Chapter 2

Alike

Richard grunted as he was violently tossed to the floor of the cave.

Towering above him was a terrifying sight;

A gray Deathclaw with blood red eyes over twice his size.

He scrambled for a weapon; a stick, a stone anything.

"Quit squirming, human. I am not going to hurt you. Despite my appearance I am rather docile unless provoked."

Richard rose to his feet and eyed the Deathclaws around him cautiously.

"You're talking... and with quite a vocabulary at that." Richard observed.

"You are not what meets the eye either, human. Your scent is not only that of man, but of Deathclaw as well. What is your name?"

"I'm Richard Edwards. I think I already know who you are... Goris."

"So you know my name? Am I to assume you were sent by Von Bannon?"

Richard nodded. "Yes. He said you might be able to help me with my... predicament."

"Perhaps if you explained your situation to me I could."

Richard explained his current condition to Goris.

"FEV... the Forced Evolutionary Virus. I'm very familiar with that substance. In fact, it is why those of us here who speak the language you humans do. However, I shall chide you for its use; it isn't something to be toyed with."

"No kidding. However, good can also come from FEV as well," Richard sat down on a nearby boulder. "I've actually 'evolved' two Deathclaws back home. They're almost human aside from horns and tails. The male is Alphonse, and if you go to extremes he's

sort of my 'son'. My own DNA got mixed with the FEV and..." Richard trailed off before continuing.

"The other is Maria, from a youngling mother Deathclaw."

Goris raised an eyebrow; quite the odd sight. "You mean they look human?"

"Yes. As I said very close to human; tails and horns excluded. What are you implying?" Richard heard the eagerness in Goris's voice.

"...Nothing. Pipe dreams if you will."

"You want me to preform the process on you as well..."

"...when I was but a youngling I traveled with a man about your age for some time; together we stopped the Enclave upon their emergence.. .and saved my pack. I used to wear a set of brown robes to hide myself. I would masquerade as a human that was

hideously deformed."

"... but you got too big to pass as human, so you had to stop."

Goris sighed. "There was so much to see, so much to learn! I would love to be able to walk in the sun once again, despite how it pains my very flesh because of my albinism!"

"...I happen to have a sample of the FEV with me. It's at Nellis with the rest of our supplies. But I can't guarantee the same results; you've already been exposed to FEV. I don't know what kind of reaction might occur. You might be perfectly human in appearance, or you could become some half way point."

Then a Deathclaw about the size of Richard came out of the caves, edging around a bend.

It was an albino, the same as Goris. Its horns were smaller however.

"Yours?" Richard asked.

"Yes. Lia is her name. She's very timid, an oddity for a Deathclaw. It's alright, you can come out; this human will do us no harm."

She slowly walked over beside Goris.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Richard was unsure how to react; she wasn't just timid she was downright quiet too.

"Yes. You as well-!" Richard stopped as pain sprang into his upper back.

Goris kept the other Deathclaws at bay.

"Stay back! I can only guess the transformation is progressing..."

Richard soon lay in a ball on the floor of the cave, sweating and still recovering from the pain.

When he managed to recompose himself he noticed that a few of his vertebrae felt more raised.

He felt the spot; sure enough three small bumps had appeared on his back.

"At least it wasn't too bad this time." Richard said, somewhat relieved.

"So that is the transformation in action," Goris said. "I'm guessing that your 'spines' are starting to grow?"

Richard winced as he stood up. "Yeah. It isn't too comfortable. I'll have to check it out later. Oh, that's right. Von Bannon sent me with a message for Lia I believe. 'Best Regards' I believe the message was."

Fawkes had opened fire on the Cazadores, but the had still managed to snatch up Judas and take him god knows where.

He sighed and continued onward; he would seek help at this settlement that Von Bannon spoke of.

He reached it... and his eyes widened a bit.

There were super mutants... dozens of them... and they were just... living.

"Greetings, brother. I haven't seen a super mutant like you before." A Super Mutant in makeshift armor said to Fawkes.

"That is because the Super Mutants in the East are of a different origin I assume." Fawkes replied.

"Ah you're a smart one. That's good. Come on, I'll give you the tour. By the way, name's Marcus. What's yours?"

"Fawkes. I took this name from the story of a man who did what he believed was right, no matter the consequence. I cannot remember my name."

The two walked and traded stories. Eventually Fawkes got to Judas's kidnapping.

"Odd," said Marcus. "Cazadores don't usually take prisoners; they just kill something and either eat the corpse... or hauls bits and pieces to the nests. There's a rather oversized Cazador, the Legendary Cazador, in a mine just down the road. Maybe she got

extra hungry. I didn't think Cazadores had a taste

for Scorpion though; the two usually leave each other alone."

"Do not forget," began Fawkes "he is not completely scorpion; he was once human, like you or I."

Judas slowly opened his eyes. He was in a cave of some sort. He tried to move, but found his hands bound to the wall above him with some sort of wax. He struggled to break free, but to no avail.

"You're awake. That's good. Welcome to The Hive. The humans call it Silverpeak Mine. But the only thing here that's 'mine' is you." Followed by a rather seductive laugh.

Judas searched with all three of his eyes before them finally settling on a petite girl with glossy orange wings, black nails, and black hair with streaks of blue.

At first he was a bit surprised... then he realized she was naked. He blushed furiously, but maintained his composure speech wise.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?"

"I," the queen began "am what the humans call the 'Legendary' Cazador. I've done some listening and found out that means Legendary Hunter. A fitting name for me; I never lose my prey." She walked over to him and gently brushed his cheek with her hand.

"And right now, that prey is you."

The sun was setting in the skies of New Vegas.

Ethan Von Bannon noticed Richard and company had been gone for quite some time; longer than expected.

He suited up and grabbed a Proton Axe, This Machine, and a .357 magnum revolver.

He adjusted his cowboy hat and exited the 38.

He fast traveled to Dead Wind Cavern first.

"W-what do you mean the prey is me? You're going to eat me?" Judas, for the first time since becoming a Hybrid, panicked.

"Well not now obviously; you wouldn't be much good for breeding if I ate you first."

Judas's face turned a deep shade of red. "What do you mean breed? I'm not even entirely sure that's genetically possible!"

"So? I can't very well breed with other Cazadores as I am now. You're part scorpinon, right? You can't be too off from me genetically. Besides, we're both mostly human now."

Judas struggled against his bonds then remembered his stinger.

"Stay back or I'll sting you!" His tail twitched, ready to strike like lightning.

The girl laughed. "You think your measly posion will effect me?"

She drew in closer and pressed her body against his.

"Where should I deliver the killing blow..." She opened her mouth and placed her canines against his neck. "Here maybe?"

She pulled back and then drew circles over his heart with a claw, shredding the outer layer of his clothing.

"Or maybe rip your heart out while you're conscious?"

She backed away and crossed her arms. "That's the easy part. The hard part is figuring out how this damned human reproduction system works! They don't lay eggs so I'm at a loss!"

Judas laughed. Judas. laughed.

"What? What's so funny?" The Insect queen fumed, her wings spreading to their full wingspan.

"You went to all the trouble of capturing me and restraining me here, and you don't even know how humans reproduce! That's priceless!" His expression turned to a smirk. "Now let me show you why Albino Radscorpions are the most feared beings in the Capital Wasteland!"

He flexed his muscles and the wax shattered. Judas charged the queen, twisted her arm behind her back... then his arm touched her wing. He immediately entered Thoraxaphobic Mode and released her, taking several steps back.

He then cowered in the corner of the room staring at his limb as if it had... well, there wasn't much that could happen to his arms at this point.

"Why did you release me?" Asked the Queen.

Judas was mumbling something about bugs and disgusting things and what not.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

He looked at her for a moment before his paranoid mind came up with a sickening thought:

'If I rip off the wings she's just a normal girl!'

So that is what he attempted to do.

Unfortuanately, things didn't go quite as planned...

Von Bannon noticed the lack of Deathclaws outside the cave.

He decided to enter the cave himself.

He noticed the Deathclaws were gathered in a circle.

He coughed, causing an instant array of hostility before they noticed it was him.

"Howdy."

"Von Bannon? What brings you here? Is this not why you sent this young man?" Goris asked.

"He was gone an awful long while, so I came to fetch him myself." Von Bannon responded. "I trust ya'll've been doin' well?"

"Yes we have, thank you. Take this one with you, " Goris shoved Richard in the direction of Von Bannon. "And watch him. I'm afraid he doesn't have much time. If we're lucky his high intellect will make him like us. If not..." The Deathclaw trailed off.

Von Bannon understood the implications. "Gotcha, clear as crystal. Come on, son. We need to mosey on out of here and find the rest of your friends. I'll update the location of Jacobstown on your map."

In seconds the two had fast traveled to the Super Mutant town.

"Ah Von Bannon. It's nice to see you again." Greeted Marcus. "I see you brought your...friend."

Fawkes had told him about Richard's... condition.

"He's a bit... under the weather. But he ain't gonna go stir crazy just yet."

"If you say so. Your super mutant friend is in the lodge, Richard." Marcus had heard the name from Fawkes as well.

"Thanks." Richard felt a tad uncomfortable, but knew better than to stare.

When they entered the lodge, Von Bannon pulled him aside.

"Now, there's an old ex-enclave scientist here. You may want to talk to him. He was actually trying to reverse the super mutant transformations."

Richard nodded and headed inside the room.

"Hello?"

Doctor Henry frowned as he looked at some notes.

"You don't sound like a mutant. What do you want?"

"Technically I am. Sort of. It's complicated."

The doctor looked and noticed some of the traits Richard had developed.

"Never seen this kind of mutation before. Looks familiar though."
"Deathclaw. I'm turning into a deathclaw." Richard said plainly. "Not that I'm starting anything, but the Enclave did this to me... sort of."

"Odd. I thought they were done with FEV after the Talking Deathclaw incident."

Richard noted that the man went straight to the point and wasted no words.

Just then, Fawkes walked in, having been looking for Richard.

"Now your friend there is even more interesting. If I could get a blood sample... actually, from both of you..."

"Depends. Can you tell me if the Enclave has any bases near Vegas?"

"Old abandoned one to the northwest. Cleaned out by the NCR decades ago. So can I take those samples?"

"Fine." Richard said with disdain; he hated needles, despite being the son of a doctor and a veteran of stimpack usage.

He sat down and the doctor prepared everything then drew three vials of his blood.

He repeated with Fawkes.

He took a sample of Richard's blood and put it under a microscope.

"Interesting. The very cell structure is changing at an alarming pace. I guess about a week or so before you change completely."

He put some of Fawkes's blood on another slide and looked at it.

"Interesting... it's similar to the stuff the super mutants here have, but there are a few differences."

He then began testing the DNA.

The readouts appeared on a computer screen.

"My god... Boy, your friend here may have just given my research a breakthrough. With this... I might be able to finish what I started all those years ago. Leave! Leave now! I have work to do!"

Richard and Fawkes left, which reminded him...

"What happened to Judas?"

Fawkes looked uneasy. "Yes... you will most likely not like the answer, but he was taken by Cazadores. According to Marcus, they normally do not do this; they either kill the victim and eat them on the spot... or take the remains back. They took him alive."

"Where did they take him?" Richard asked.

"Apparently an old mine."

Richard groaned. 'More bugs in tunnels. Prefect.'

"Marcus also mentioned a Legendary Cazador, the queen of the hive."

Richard turned and started beating his head against the wall.

"...Are you alright, my friend?"

"Fawkes. You've known me for a while now. You know how I hate these situations." Richard sighed. "But we should probably go save him. Come on. I'll try and keep from screaming like a small child."

Richard kicked the door to the mine in and opened fire with his assault rifle blindly.

He wasn't letting those...things...get anywhere NEAR him.

He got a couple of good hits, killing them.

Fawkes sighed at his friend's silly fear and opened fire with his minigun.

Judas actually wasn't in any real danger at the moment.

The so called "Queen" had tried to use him as nothing more than something to mate with.

She hadn't planned on him having more stamina.

She was currently passed out with her head resting on his chest.

If it wasn't for the large, disgusting, glossy, semitransparent, creepy - bug wings on her back, he might have called her a cute girl.

It was when she woke up he would have hell to-

He heard fully automatic gunfire.

'Dammit.'

The girl's eyes shot open and she scrambled to her feet before her legs promptly gave out.

"I wouldn't bother," Judas said. "My money's on one of them being about as good with insects as I am(you excluded of course). The other is a Super Mutant with the mind and vocabulary of a philosopher." Judas waved a hand dismissively.

She put what she could into sending a telepathic message for the insects to retreat.

Richard and Judas lowered their guns as the bugs started to pull back.

"Top your mag. We're going in." Richard instructed as he reloaded his rifle.

Fawkes did the same with his minigun.

As they progressed they came across various skeletons, of both the human and bighorner variety.

Richard's heart began to race. This legendary Cazador had to be-

"Eh?" Richard turned bright red.

A petite girl sat on the ground next to Judas, who was partially covered by an old blue tarp.

What's more, they were both naked.

"W-what are you doing? Th-there's a-!"

He saw the wings on the girl, who looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

"Y-You are not welcome here! Go away or we shall-!"

Out of embarrassment and sheer need to laugh, Richard had walked right back the way he came.

After getting over the embarrassing scene in front of him he burst out in laughter at the sight he had just seen.

Fawkes, thanks to his gender neutrality despite his voice, managed to ask a serious question while Richard died of laughter around the bend.

"You... you are the Legendary Cazador, correct?"

"OF course I am! Aren't you afraid?"

"Not...particularly." Fawkes replied.

"Face it, you aren't scary anymore. You'd be human if it wasn't for those wings." Judas mentioned.

"Silence! You are just breeding stock!"

Richard started laughing louder.

"Edwards! Silence yourself now. You are only making this worse for me!"

"Right, right. OF course I am. You seem to have had a good time while I was gone."

He broke out in laughter anew.

Fawkes sighed.

"We came here to rescue you, but it would seem that you do not need it."

"Good point. Thankfully my clothing is still wearable, so let me get dressed and we'll be on our way."

"H-hey! You'd just leave me here?"

Judas shrugged.

"I do not see why not. After all, I'm just breeding stock to you. I served my purpose, now I'm leaving."

"B-b-but I don't know how to rear a human child!"

"Should have thought that through before you decided on mating with me, shouldn't you've?"

After Judas got dressed, the three started off to the exit.

"Man, Judas, even if she's rude and all that, I kind of feel bad for her. What you're doing is just cruel..." Richard said. "And besides... we could use more allies... especially if I turn..."

He didn't want to think that way, but it was plausible that he would go berzerk.

Judas sighed.

"But those wings..."

"Oh come on. She's probably the only girl you'll ever have sex with again for the rest of your life, if you want the non-moral reason to stay with her."

Judas knew Richard had a point.

"Fine, I will go back... thank you for the guilt trip, asshole."

"I'll always be that annoying angel on your shoulder; you're welcome!"

Judas turned and walked back.

Ruin was very pleased with his growing army.

Soon he would be ready to make his move on New Vegas.

Then he'd have the entire Mojave under his rule.

His tail rattled with excitement.

Once that happened... he'd have no use for the Enclave anymore.

According to intel from the Enclave, his biggest threat would be nothing more than a mindless beast soon.

The next day Richard and Fawkes geared up for the hike north.

However, as they got ready to leave, the got a surprise.

"Howdy! My time out in the desert yesterday got my adventurin' legs itchin' again. I'll be joinin' you in your little escapade."

The group ended up heading not to the north, but to Hoover Dam, where they boarded a Vertibird.

The aircraft dropped them off at their destination and they headed to the massive metal gates.

"Well boys, here it is: Roswell Millitary base. According to pre-war news, back in the 1950's this place was rumored to have alien tech. But that's mostly urban legend, mind you."

"That might be true. Or it could be more than that. Look, believe me or not, I don't care, but I've actually been abducted by aliens before."

"You don't say? Well then, I reckon you'll know how to use it if we find any then! Come on, let's go."

Von Bannon headed over to a panel and input some numbers.

The gates creaked and slowly slid open.

This base was more of a fortress than anything else.

The three entered.

"Now, ya'll need to watch out for them geckos that have the run about this place. And of course, what cave would be complete without..."

"Don't say anything. I smell them. And it's really, really weird." Richard said.

It was true; he could smell where the Alpha male had marked the base.

It reeked.

Bad.

Now aware of the danger within, the group continued, weapons drawn.

There was movement and the three became alert, Richard unconsciously letting loose a feral growl.

This proved a poor move; it accelerated the change.

It wasn't a little change this time.

He let out a roar of agony as he lurched over.

His jumpsuit ripped open as the very defining feature of a hybrid appeared:

His tail.

He fell to his hands and knees panting.

"Oh...Oh GOD..."

The appendage twitched with his suffering.

That was the trigger.

Suddenly, they were approached by over a dozen Deathclaws, including the Alpha Male.

Richard slowly rose, not even bothering to pick up his weapon.

"...Richard?" tried Fawkes.

"City boy?" inquired Von Bannon.

They were answered with a deep growl.

Richard spread his arms and his claws fully extended.

He looked the Alpha in the eye and let out a roar of defiance before blindly charging into battle.

"What in tarnation-!"

"This is not the first time this has happened! It is a result of the transformation eroding his mind! If we are lucky, he will come back to us!" Fawkes explained.

"And if we ain't?"

"We have bigger problems right now!"

"Point taken. Well then, let's have us a grand old time!"

Richard was surprisingly able to keep up with the Alpha, but not without getting wounded; he was simply ignoring the pain, turning it into fury.

Between Fawkes and Von Bannon, the rest of their attackers went down fast.

Richard finally succeeded in knocking over the alpha... and ripping its throat out with his jaws, his teeth having changed as well, growing sharper... sharp enough to rip through to the Alpha's jugular and sever it.

Then... he passed out.

"Well... I'm glad I ain't that thing right now. Eyes on; there might be more, although that seemed enough for an average pack."

Fawkes nodded.

Hours later, Richard slowly came to.

"Ugh... what happened? I remember horrible pain and then-!"

He felt something move. Something connected to his lower back.

"Oh... that. But... there were... what happened to the Deathclaws?"

Ethan let out a puff of smoke from a cigarette.

"Well son, I can lie to ya, or give ya the honest truth. What'll it be?"

"What happened?"

"Well... ya kinda went berserk. You went at that thing like a mad Brahmin! And... well... see fer' yerself."

The man motioned to the dead Alpha.

Richard looked over to the corpse and noticed that its throat had been torn open.

The wound looked about big enough for-!"

He lurched over and vomited.

"Oh...Oh my god... that... I did that?"

Fawkes said nothing and Bannon just nodded.

"Well... we should see if we can find any clues as to the Enclave's whereabouts now. Come on," said Richard, his voice shaky from the horror and the aftereffects of just vomiting.

He picked up his pump action shotgun and continued onward with Fawkes and Bannon.

As they delved deeper, Richard's new senses picked up another scent.

His tail twitched angrily and he narrowed his eyes.

They missed the mother and two... no three younglings.

"Guys... wait here." Richard said.

"Where're you headin'?" asked Von Bannon, curious as to what could possibly make them waste time.

"I'm going to... try and reason with the Mother Deathclaw to leave us be."

Ethan had a concerned look on his face.

"Okay, now you're worryin' me, boy. You sure you're all there again yet?"

"Trust me."

Richard headed off into the nesting chamber.

He was greeted by a very angry mother deathclaw.

Instinctively he entered a submissive, non-hostlie stance.

"Human...no... you are not... you are... strange.'

"No shit. Look, I've got an actual human and a super mutant with me. Well, the bad news is that,uh... we kind of killed the rest of your pack. The good news is that isn't why we came here. It was self defense really, so we won't kill you and the younglings unless you attack us. We came here hunting information on the Enclave, men in black armor."

The Mother Deathclaw was uncertain what to do:

He smelled human, so part of her told her to kill him and feed him to her younglings.

But the other part knew he smelled like a Deathclaw as well, and the blood of the Alpha... so he had technically, if unwittingly, become the new Alpha Male of the pack...

...what was left of it anyway.

But as he was, he would be unable to breed with her.

"...Are you aware of what you have done?"

There was no anger behind her "words".

"No I-... Oh no. I know what I did..." He paused and scratched be back of his head. "Well... this is awkward. What to do about this..."

Richard cupped his chin in his hand, deep in thought.

"I can only think of one option."

"That is?"

"Well... you see, I've genetically altered Deathclaws before, and they look mostly human and as far as I know they're overall anatomically the same. They resemble me actually. Except with horns. I could... perhaps... do the same to you and the younglings?

That would really be the only way I could tolerate this mess. On top of that, I still need to find the Enclave, or at least some info on them. I'd like answers to both questions now, if you would."

"They were here, yes. Looking for something called "FEV"." They found it in the next few chambers. This was a few months ago in human time. They took what they needed and left... after killing off the previous Alpha and Mother."

"So that makes you rather young then? I can't tell how old Deathclaws are from appearance. No offense, but you're too dangerous to spend too long studying."

"None taken, my lord. And yes, my age in human years would be roughly eighteen, possibly a short bit younger."

"Well... this FEV... is there still some left?"

"Yes. They only took some."

"Good. Tell you what, keep the younglings here for a while. I'll have my companions hunt down information on the Enclave. Meanwhile, I'll use what I have here plus what I have on me to create an improved version of my previous formula and then distribute

it to you and the younglings. The changes are almost instantaneous, so you'll be able to come back with us... although I don't know how Von Bannon will... Oh, fuck it, hold on."

Richard sped off back to his companions.

"Okay, so here's the run down: I killed the Alpha, so, since I'm now roughly half Deathclaw, I'm the new Alpha apparently. Now, there's some FEV here, and I know Goris told me not to fuck around with it, but I doubt you'd be willing to keep a Deathclaw

Mother and her younglings at the 38, even if you had the room. So I'll improve on my old formula and change them too. Then you'll let then stay... right? Come on, they have nowhere else to go and I kind of feel responsible for this whole mess."

"Well... since you seem so desperate I reckon I can let it slide. Not like anyone else is stayin' at the 38." Von Bannon answered, the last part dryly. "But you're takin' them with ya when you go back home, understand?"

"Got it. Now you two go on ahead. Look for dates, logs, anything!"

Richard met back up with the Pack Mother.

"Okay, so he says it's fine. They're going to run through and look for clues. I'm going to head in and find that FEV. Stay here and try too keep the younglings from eating them."

"Yes, my Lord."

Richard finished up his business... but kept a few vials of the FEV with him.

He wanted to do something nice for Goris and his pack.

After all, the albino Deathclaw was an intellectual like him; who was he to deny someone else of his intelligence a chance to get smarter?

Brushing off the thoughts, he admired his handiwork, with the first trying to keep from 'admiring' her with his hands.

Damn instincts.

The Pack Mother was extremely attractive; he wasn't sure whether it was his human or Deathclaw hormones deciding on this though.

Her curves were more prominent than Eve's, and she had a bit more weight on her.

Not disgustingly enough so, just enough so it was obvious.

However she was... a bit slow.

Outside of taking care of her offspring, speech, and simple motor functions, she was at a loss.

She was very calm and soft-spoken, and loyal to Richard, almost blindly so.

She stayed close to Richard, and her offspring followed in a line, like ducks in a row.

They all had unique little personalities as well.

They were all about five in human years, maybe four.

One, a male, was slightly taller than the other two, but wasn't quite alpha male material.

He didn't 'smell' like it.

On top of that he was very shy and withdrawn, only answering Richard with "Yes Sir" and "No Sir".

Second was a girl.

She was very upbeat and curious, but also somewhat... well... she wasn't the brightest atom in the bomb.

Third was another boy, about average height.

He seemed rather angry all the time.

Not mean, just unhappy.

They all had very similar physical traits to Al and Maria.

Just not all of them.

The Mother had the trademark horns but no tail, the quiet boy had a tail and horns, the sulkier male had extra sharp caninies and a tail... but the girl was different.

Aside from the fangs, she looked perfectly human.

After managing to find and adapt some old clothes (Richard was a master with a needle and thread thanks to the need to repair all his own armor and clothing, a far cry from the days he first picked up the tools, where he earned several pinpricks) , Richard

and his new "Pack" returned to find Fawkes and Ethan.

"Any luck?" Rich asked.

Both of them shook their heads.

"Damn... Well keep hunting! We have to find something."

The Mother had chided the more grumpy of the childeren to stop chewing on something.

It was a holotape.

Richard swiftly took the item before putting it into his PIPboy (after wiping the saliva off of course).

It was a journal.

And it was recent.

Richards heart began racing; maybe this had some information!

Sure enough, it did... and it wasn't good.

"Von Bannon are you familiar with a "Rebirth Legion"?"

"Fraid' not. Only Legion I know of was Caesar's Legion, but I killed Caesar and they ran off on their way east. Unless... it's under new management."

"Well there's mention of another base too. Creech Air Force Base. Any idea where it is?"

"Creech... hm, can't say so. I'll look into it for ya. Come on, let's get outta here. I think I hear the geckos moving in to clean up our mess."

Upon insistance from the Mother, he'd had to change the presidential suite, his current place of residence, around. He'd had to convert one of the rooms he didn't even use (the game room) into a second bedroom for the three younglings-

No, now they were children.

She'd said he needn't worry about them- she'd care for them.

However, his mind had deteriorated to a point where instinct's corruption was licking at the edges of his mind:

She insisted on sleeping in the same bed as him, and he was damn well considering it, something he wouldn't have done before.

But now, between feeling responsible for this whole mess and the foreign longing, he allowed it.

She went to sleep before he did, even after all he'd been through that day.

He found it hard to believe she was once twice his size and a monster at that.

He sighed and let sleep overtake him.

END CHAPTER 2

Well, things just got more complicated.

Now, with Richard's transformation progressing further, how much longer does he really have?

On top of that, The Rebirth Legion, a reformed version of Caesar's Legion, is preparing to make a bid at what Caesar could not do:

Take Vegas for themselves.

With the Enclave backing them, will the Securitrons and NCR be able to hold the Mojave, or will will they bust out in this game they now play?

Also, to clear up any confusion, Von Bannon is 27, but uses the terms "boy" and "son" because of both his position of power, and having more experience, age aside that is.

Next:

Roundup