Lt. Haggerty sighed as she leaned against the rusting guard railing, staring out over the sea of derelict solar panels coated in a thin layer of snow and ice. The nuclear winter had transformed the Mojave into a wasteland of frost and bone-chilling winds, rendering HELIOS One all but useless.
What was once a strategic power station had become a forgotten outpost, an icy tomb haunted by bureaucratic neglect and the NCR's increasing desperation. The thought made her grind her teeth. She had signed up to serve the Republic, not to babysit a broken-down power plant with a crew barely large enough to fill a mess hall.
Especially since the NCR fought tooth and nail of guerilla warfare for two years against the Brotherhood of Steel to take the location in Operation: Sunburst.
Haggerty had read the after-action reports. She'd heard the stories from veterans who had fought in the battle—how the Brotherhood of Steel had dug in, turning HELIOS One into a fortress, forcing the NCR into a grueling war of attrition.
The Republic had bled for this place, throwing wave after wave of troopers at the Brotherhood's defenses. Plasma and laser fire had cut through the ranks like a scythe, reducing squads to smoldering corpses in seconds.
But numbers had won in the end.
The Brotherhood had no supply lines, no way to reinforce their dwindling numbers. They held for as long as they could, but the NCR's sheer manpower ground them down. When their Elder finally gave the order to retreat, it was already too late for many of them.
Over half their chapter was dead, and their once-impenetrable hold on HELIOS shattered. Some of the survivors fled into the wilds of the Mojave, becoming ghosts in the dunes. Others were hunted down by NCR patrols, and executed as a warning to any who dared to challenge the Republic.
And for what?
Haggerty scowled, the bitter wind stinging her face. The NCR had bled to claim this facility, and now it was worthless. The nukes had seen to that. The Brotherhood was long gone, the war was over, and she was left standing in the cold, watching the Republic slowly abandon the place they had once deemed so vital.
The worst part? A small, treacherous part of her wondered if the Brotherhood had been right all along. Not about hoarding technology, but about the NCR's incompetence. The Republic had won, and yet they had nothing to show for it.
She let out a breath, watching it dissipate into the freezing air.
And then there was him.
"Lieutenant!"
A gratingly familiar voice called out.
Haggerty clenched her fists before slowly turning to see Mr. Fantastic striding toward her, hands stuffed into the pockets of his oversized lab coat. The self-proclaimed "scientist" had the brains of a mole rat and the arrogance of a Vault-Tec executive. He was a walking embodiment of everything she hated about her assignment.
"What do you want, Fantastic?"
She asked, already bracing for another headache.
He grinned, completely oblivious to her tone.
"So, funny thing—I was running some calculations, and it turns out solar panels don't work so well when there's no sun!"
He threw his hands up like he had just uncovered the secrets of the universe.
Haggerty closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and counted to three. It didn't help.
"No shit..."
She muttered.
"We've been telling command that for months."
"Yeah, yeah, but have you considered,"
He leaned in conspiratorially.
"that maybe—just maybe—if we reposition the panels to reflect moonlight—"
"I swear to God, Fantastic, if you finish that sentence, I will shoot you."
Fantastic laughed nervously and took a step back.
"Heh, right. Just spitballing ideas. Gotta stay innovative, you know?"
Haggerty rubbed her temples.
"Just… go do whatever it is you do. And for the love of the Republic, stay out of my sight."
Fantastic gave a half-hearted salute before strolling off, mumbling something about "revolutionary theories" and "underappreciated genius."
Haggerty turned back to the frozen wasteland before her. A part of her wished the nukes had just wiped HELIOS One off the map entirely—at least then she wouldn't be stuck here, freezing her ass off, waiting for orders that would never come.
She sighed again. Just another day in the NCR.
Then a voice snapped her from her thoughts.
"Lieutenant!"
One of her troopers, Martinez, jogged up to her, his breath heavy.
"We got movement outside the perimeter."
Haggerty immediately straightened, her hand moving to the pistol at her hip.
"Legion?"
Martinez shook his head.
"No, ma'am. Looks like a group of travelers. But… they're weird."
"Weird how?"
"They're wearing heavy winter gear, real high-tech stuff. Looks pre-war, maybe Enclave or some Vault-Tec experiment. And they're armed."
Haggerty narrowed her eyes.
"How many?"
"A dozen, maybe more. And they're moving like they know where they're going."
That sent a chill down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold.
"Get the squad together."
She ordered.
"We're going to meet them at the gate."
Maybe, just maybe, HELIOS One still had a part to play in the Mojave's future.
-A few hours later-
"Holy fuck! I think we lost it."
Martinez said with a groan setting his weapon down on the ground, as he and most of his team made it back.
Juan a fellow soldier was breathing heavily, sweat mixing with the grime on his face as he scanned their surroundings. The facility's perimeter lights flickered, casting eerie shadows across the broken concrete. They had barely made it back, and Martinez still looked like he was about to lose his mind.
"We still need to report to the Lieutenant."
Juan reminded him, his voice steady despite his own exhaustion.
Martinez gave him a wide-eyed look, his nerves still raw.
"Report what? That we ran for our damn lives while that thing turned Vasquez into a chew toy?!"
He ran a shaky hand through his hair.
"That Yao Guai could burst out of anywhere! It could be waiting to kill us! Stalking us! Letting us marinade in terror! Right there! Or there! Or—"
"Juan..."
a familiar voice interrupted, dry and unimpressed.
"Smack Fantastic."
"OW!"
Fantastic, the resident self-proclaimed genius, reeled from the unexpected hit. He rubbed the back of his head, his sunglasses nearly falling off.
"What the hell did I do?!"
"Nothing."
Lieutenant Haggerty answered, arms crossed.
"But I knew it would calm Martinez down if you got hit."
Martinez blinked, taking a deep breath.
"That is true, it did calm me down."
He admitted, his hands steadying.
Juan, wincing as a doctor applied ointment to his injuries, muttered.
"I would feel better if you punched Fantastic."
"Agreed."
Martinez added.
"Hey, hey, let's not get carried away."
Fantastic protested, holding up his hands.
"I already took one for the team. Besides, aren't we more worried about the big mutant bear out there?"
Haggerty sighed, ignoring him.
"Alright, enough. What happened out there?"
Juan straightened.
"We were ambushed. It came out of nowhere, moving faster than any Yao Guai I've ever seen. Vasquez didn't make it. We lost visual when we got near the rocks, but there's a chance it's still out there."
Haggerty's expression didn't change, but her jaw tightened slightly.
"Damn it. We can't afford to lose more men."
She turned to one of the scientists nearby.
"What do we know about this thing? Any anomalies?"
One of the lab-coated figures, a bespectacled woman named Dr. Nolan, spoke up.
"The Yao Guai in this region have shown unusual aggression and resilience, likely due to radiation exposure. But if what your men are describing is true, this one might be… evolving."
"Fantastic."
Haggerty said flatly.
"Tell me you have something useful for once."
"Well," he started, dusting off his lab coat dramatically.
"I've been reviewing some old pre-War notes. There were experiments with growth hormones and combat stimulants in local wildlife. It's possible this Yao Guai was exposed to something… extra spicy."
Haggerty pinched the bridge of her nose.
"So, what you're saying is we're dealing with a super-mutant bear hopped up on god-knows-what?"
"Uh… yeah, basically."
Fantastic admitted.
Juan groaned.
"That's just perfect."
Haggerty straightened.
"Alright. We can't let it keep picking us off. We'll set up a perimeter and figure out a way to deal with it. But there's something else—Juan, you mentioned travelers earlier?"
Juan nodded, his expression darkening.
"Yeah. We spotted a group out in the waste. Armed, organized. Their gear looks old-world military, but not Brotherhood. They were watching something. Maybe even watching us."
Haggerty frowned.
"Then we've got two problems. A monster in the wilds and potential hostiles in the shadows."
She turned to her team, her voice firm.
"Alright, listen up. We're not letting this Yao Guai run rampant, and we're sure as hell not letting a bunch of unknowns sneak around on our turf. Gear up. We're heading back out at dawn."
Martinez swallowed hard but nodded. Juan checked his rifle. Fantastic sighed, knowing he wasn't getting out of this.
The wasteland wasn't giving them a break. But if it wanted a fight, they were ready.