Chapter 25: Who am I?

The next day:

The lounge room was filled with anxiety as Ellie, who had just woken up, enters the room.

"Did you sleep well?" Arthur asked

"Somehow…" the mercenary replied with a dejected voice

"Anyway, what's the connection between you and the Enclave?" James asked

"Paladin" Vyse said "Shouldn't we let her breathe a bit? This is a lot to take in"

"It's ok, Vyse" the mercenary said "I want to get this out of my chest"

"Alright" Arthur said as the mercenary hangs her head low "Now then, who are you Ellie?"

The mercenary sits down, takes a sip of coffee, prepared by Dallas, and begins to tell her true tale…

I was born in 2141 in the Poseidon Oil Rig, the main base of the Enclave at the time. Like many children in the Enclave, we were made to believe that the wasteland was rightfully ours and anybody who were unaffiliated with us were considered "impure". We were taught to look down on any wasteland inhabitants, be it a mutant or a regular human…

I believed in all that… I believed in the vision of the Enclave that America was truly ours and I must do everything I can to restore it, even if it means genocide…

By the time I was eighteen old, I became part of the Enclave's research staff. We researched mostly on weapons and armor… I was particularly interested in the FEV research.

The thought of creating an unstoppable army was like a romantic thought in my head but the limited samples we had made it hard for me to conduct a proper research.

Frustrated, I went against regulations and scoured the wasteland for more samples. That was when I encountered a certain Vault Dweller…

He saved me from a group of raiders. I was sure he was from a vault since he wore a jumpsuit, I remember the number written on its back…

13. He was from Vault 13.

I was intrigued. A lone vault dweller taking on the harsh wasteland.

My interest led me to secretly follow this dweller. I witnessed him take down an entire Super Mutant army, something that was thought to be impossible.

Nevertheless, he did it and thanks to him, I managed to find more than enough samples of FEV to research on…

"The Mariposa Military Base…" Arthur muttered

"Yes…" Ellie confirmed "I'm the reason behind the Enclave's discovery of the base and the continued research on the FEV… Although, they didn't start searching until 2236"

"Wait a minute" Vyse said "Don't be offended but how were you able to keep yourself young for more than a hundred years?"

"It's not over Vyse"

"Oh I'm sorry"

5 years later, me and several other Enclave scientists travelled to the Commonwealth and linked up with our ally, the Institute.

For the next few years, we would conduct heavy research on a lot of things from weapons to equipment. I mostly focused my research on the FEV.

My dream, back then, was to create the most powerful army for the Enclave but I kept on encountering the same failure.

Every single one of my subjects mutated into super mutants or into those ghouls we saw at Underworld, they were strong and resilient but the virus destroyed most of their brains and mutated them into grotesque shadows of their former selves. In other words, they lost their "purity", their humanity.

I experimented on many unwilling participants. Many pleaded me to stop, some even screamed and cried but I didn't care…

I saw them as nothing more than test subjects for me to research on, even the children were not spared. I didn't acknowledge them as human or even as a living being…

"God damn…" Vyse said

"I made countless people suffer because of my experiments… I… I…"

"Ellie?" the knight sergeant said as he goes to her side "I think she should stop… Looks like the story telling's taking a toll on her"

"No" the mercenary said as she pulls herself together "I'm ok. I need to tell you all. Who I am"

By 2166, I made a breakthrough. I managed to create a strain of the virus that would give the infected individual the same power as a super mutant while retaining his/her humanity.

After testing the substance on several subjects, all of which died months or years later, I decided to inject the substance into myself.

Initially, the FEV blended quite well with my body. I gained super human strength, agility, endurance and perception. My wounds heal faster than a normal human and I can withstand a lot of scenarios that would normally kill a regular human being.

I also gained an ability called the "Eagle Vision", which allows me to identify hostile elements in my environment.

But after a few days, I began to deteriorate as the virus mutated and began to ravage my body.

An emergency surgery was conducted in order to save my life. It was a success but at the cost of most of my organs, including parts of my brain, being replaced by synthetic ones.

Despite their best efforts however, the damage to my brain was irreversible and I could no longer be part of the science team.

After the incident, I returned to California. Wanting to be useful to the Enclave, I joined the Enclave Armored Division. I trained day in and day out, sharpening my skills.

By 2200, my training was completed and I was ready to go to war for the Enclave.

Since high command was not yet ready to reveal themselves just yet, I was assigned to train the recruits. Among the recruits I trained was a young man named Frank Horrigan.

"Frank Horrigan…" Sithis said "I heard of that man. He was one of the most feared soldiers in the Enclave. But he died during the assault on the oil rig"

"Yes…" the mercenary answered "He was a dedicated soldier like I was and one of the best recruits I ever trained.

"Ain't that convenient" Coby said "You trained one of the Enclave's most infamous soldiers…"

"Yes… But all that training couldn't have prepared him, me or anyone from the Tribal…"

"Tribal?" Marina wondered

"Are you talking about the Village Chief from Arroyo?" Sithis asked

"Yes… I encountered and even fought her several times"

Because of the surgery, the virus harmonized with my body, giving me super human abilities while maintaining my youth.

By 2241, the Enclave revealed their presence into the wasteland and began a campaign of destruction against the wastelanders. I was a willing participant in all of them… I did so many atrocities under the Enclave's name…

I killed several wastelanders, including Enclave defectors, with no remorse and mercy. I didn't care if they were even children, if they were not part of the Enclave, they were mutations that needed to be eradicated on the face of the Earth…

"Damn…" Coby said "Sounds like you were pretty brutal…"

"Yes I was. That was not the full extent of my crimes. I participated in the massacre of Vault 13, killing the resident deathclaws there…"

"Deathclaws?" Vyse wondered

"Yes… Those deathclaws were the result of an experiment to create powerful weapons under our control, instead we created sentient deathclaws."

"Wow… That is news to me…"

"But the Enclave had no use for such emotions if the creatures had no will to harm any of our enemies, so the President had us kill every single one of the residents of Vault 13, be it human or deathclaw…"

"Damn…" Coby muttered

"That's not all… I also led an attack on the Village of Arroyo and kidnapped most of the residents for experimentation… If that Tribal didn't destroy the oil rig, who knows what would have happened to them…"

"Were you at the oil rig when it was attacked by the NCR?" Sithis asked

"Yes… I was one of its defenders… I was tasked of evacuating Dr. Steiner, a fellow colleague."

"Steiner?" Vyse said "By that do you mean…?"

"Yes it is me" the Doctor said as he enters the room

"Doctor" Arthur said "You were part of the Enclave too?"

"Yes… I was part of the FEV research team that Ellie was a member of. I was among the scientists who came to the Commonwealth to research on the FEV. After the death of Frank Horrigan, we managed to escape the oil rig before it self-destructed and retreated to the last Enclave base at Navarro."

"But wasn't Navarro assaulted by NCR troops later on?"

"Yes. During the attack I lost track of Ellie but I managed to escape, although not many were so lucky…"

"Doc" Vyse said "Did you also infect yourself with that FEV stuff?"

"No" the doctor answered "Although, at my behest, I had my body cybernetically enhanced by the Institute. Although my body continues to show signs of age, it is not a hindrance to me at all."

"Anyway" Sithis said "What happened at Navarro, Ellie?"

The mercenary stares at the roof of the room as familiar memories begin pouring in…

Flashback:

December 5, 2242

Enclave Base Navarro; Underground

Alarm bells echo throughout the building as Enclave forces scramble to defend their last remaining base from the invading NCR forces.

"Go! Go! Go!" one of them shouted "This is our last sanctuary! Don't let it fall to those savages!"

Ellie quickly grabs her plasma rifle, puts on some combat armor and heads out into battle.

For many of us, Navarro was the last bastion of America's 'greatest' hope and many of us were ready to defend it with our lives…

"What's the status?" Ellie asked

"Lieutenant!" the Enclave soldier responded as he returns fire "NCR troops have breached the main gate! They've already breached most of the base, ma'am!"

Without saying another word, the mercenary charges towards the NCR troops. Despite being shot multiple times, she manages to breach the enemy line and decimate the NCR's ranks with her rifle.

With the NCR troops cleared, the Enclave soldiers gather around her.

"Are you alright ma'am?" One of the Soldiers asked as he notices Ellie's wounds quickly healing

"I'm fine. Consolidate and counter attack! We will not let this base fall!" she said as the Enclave soldiers let out a battle cry

I gathered every surviving Enclave soldier I could find and managed to make a counter offensive against the NCR troops, pushing most of them back to the gate. But that minor victory was not meant to last

Navarro Main Gate:

"Ma'am!" one of the Enclave soldiers said over the radio "The Tribal! It's the Tribal!"

"The Tribal?" Ellie wondered as she looks at the horizon, seeing a woman wearing a Vault 13 jumpsuit along with Tribal accessories "It's her. Tower, can you snipe her?"

"Negative!" the soldier responded "I can't get a clear shot!"

While more NCR troops arrive and engage the Enclave defenders, Ellie approaches the tribal and fires a burst shot towards the tribal, who manages to dodge. The tribal woman then throws a spear at Ellie, who parries it with her rifle.

At the same time, the tribal brings out an R91 Assault Rifle and manages to lands a few hits on Ellie, who returns fire but runs out of ammo.

The two stare off for a few minutes before they charge towards each other…

The arrival of that Tribal turned the tide of the battle. She pushed us back into the base. I was critically injured after being shot and stabbed several times but I kept going for a couple more minutes before collapsing. I was left for dead. I woke up hours later and found the base in ruins…

That was when I heard a radio transmission coming from a certain Henry Eden rallying all surviving Enclave troops to D.C. With nowhere to go, I decided to head to the Capital Wasteland.

"So you were active during the Brotherhood's struggle against the Enclave in 2277?" Arthur asked

"Yes…" the mercenary answered "I was part of the team that captured the Lone Wanderer when he acquired the G.E.C.K"

"Wait" Vyse said "So you know what he looks like now"

"No" the mercenary responded "I didn't really get a good look on his face"

"…That's a shame…" Dallas said "Were you also there during his escape from Raven Rock?"

"Yes… I was one of the soldiers who hunted him"

"So did you find him?" Polonsky asked

"No..."

A few minutes after Colonel Autumn announced the Wanderer's escape, the base was suddenly set to self-destruct. I had the inclination that the Wanderer had a hand in it so I quickly made my way to Eden's chambers

As Ellie ran through the Enclave's halls, she was suddenly attacked by 2 sentry bots.

"Huh?!" she said as she fires on the robots "Why are they attacking me?"

One bot quickly closes the distance between her and it. Acting fast, the mercenary plunges her fist into the bot's main body, pulling out the bot's power cables, disabling it. The other sentry bot then unloads its Laser Gatling on the mercenary, who promptly rolls to the left. She then brings out a frag grenade and pulls the pin. She dashes towards the sentry bot, who unloads more lasers on the mercenary. She was hit several times but it did not impede her as she shoves the grenade into the robot's main body. She pulls her arm out and jumps back before the grenade detonates, destroying the robot.

After dispatching the robots, she continued her pace towards Eden's Chambers but her path was then blocked by a hooded individual.

"You…!" she uttered as she fires her rifle but misses

The individual then brings out an MP5K and fires several shots at Ellie, who hides behind cover. As Ellie was about to break cover and return fire, another hooded individual suddenly lands on top of her.

She struggles to release herself from the individual as the hooded figure flicks his wrist and stabs her in the left shoulder.

As she continues to struggle, she sees two other hooded individuals gather around her as they cover her mouth with a handkerchief. Slowly, her vision waned and her body began to slow down… The last thing she heard was one of the individuals saying "We got her"

I was captured by a group of hooded men who brought me here to this very vault. They used the pods to alter my memories and released me into the wasteland…

"That's all I can remember…"

"But why would these guys want to capture you, alter your memories and just release you?" Polonsky asked

"I don't know…"

"Doctor" Sithis said "Do you know anything about this?"

"Sadly no" the doctor answered "I had only discovered this Vault a few years ago. After the fall of Navarro, I settled in Texas before finally settling here in New Carolina.

"Ellie" Vyse said "You ok?"

"More or less… But now, I'm not sure what I'm fighting for anymore… I was an Enclave soldier… I'm your enemy…"

"No" Vyse responded

"Huh?"

"The war with the Enclave ended when their mobile fortress was destroyed 30 years ago. Whether or not you associate yourself with the Enclave is irrelevant. You have proven to all of us that you truly care about the wasteland. I told you before, your past doesn't define who you are"

"Vyse…"

"Even if you did all those things, I think you can still make amends if you truly want to"

The room fills with silence as everyone tries to digest the information that Ellie had given them.

The silence was broken when Sithis' radio started to make some noise.

"Excuse me" he said as he picks up his radio and leaves the room

After a short while, Sithis returns.

"What is it?" Arthur asked

"Good news" he responded "My boys found a new hideout near the City of Gleamist. They told me of a good target for a counter attack"

"What do you mean?" Elysse asked

"The NCR recently built an embassy there" the Scattered Bones commander replied "Striking that base would cripple the NCR's grip in this area and inspire the locals to rise up. How about you guys, what's your plan?"

"Well" Arthur responded "We need a vertibird to get back to D.C."

"Sadly, the vertibird my boys hijacked was damaged during the attack. It'll take a while for the repairs to be done"

"So does that mean we're gonna walk?" Marina asked

"No… Even if it's just a few days, we may be too late when we arrive" Arthur answered

"So what do we do?" Kodiak asked

"Sithis" Arthur said "Are there any vertibirds near Gleamist?"

"I'm not sure but there should be a landing zone for their birds near the city"

"Then we'll take that helipad then destroy that embassy"

"Right on! Let's head to Gleamist then!"

"Very well… Let's not waste anytime"

Scattered Bones Hideout, Outskirts of Gleamist

2 hours later:

Sithis and the other members of Lyons Pride gather in a round table, containing a crude map of the area.

"What do we have?" Sithis asked a Scattered Bones member

"Sir!" he replied "The NCR forces heavily guard the embassy's vicinity. Most of them are armed with state-of-the-art laser and ballistic weapons."

"Are there any vertibirds in the area?" Arthur asked

"We just received confirmation of 3 NCR vertibirds landing on a helipad just outside of the city"

"That's our answer" Sithis said "We take those vertibirds for ourselves and that embassy's as good as gone!"

"But won't the NCR forces be alerted if we take the vertibirds?" Coby asked

"Not for a few minutes" Sithis answered "Those few minutes would be our window to attack and those 3 vertibirds will provide us with the support we need"

"Hey Sithis" Arthur said "We need at least 1 vertibird to survive if me and my squad's gonna get outta here"

"Don't worry" Sithis replied with a confident smile "We'll take the embassy and you can go back to D.C. without any problems"

"I hope you're right"

NCR Vertibird Refueling Station, Outskirts of Gleamist:

12:00pm

The members of Lyons' Pride and Scattered Bones position themselves at the top of a hill, overlooking the station. Ellie brings out a pair of binoculars and begins to scan the base.

"I see 3 patrolling on the upper left. 2 on the upper right" she reported "3 smoking by the building to the left. And 2 refueling one of the vertibirds"

"Copy" Sithis said as he places a suppressor on his gun "Don't forget to place suppressors on your guns. We do this quiet and fast"

Following Sithis' lead, the other rebels place suppressors on their guns as Ellie, Vyse, Dallas, Sithis and Arthur jump down from the hill.

They make their way behind several crates, avoiding the suspicion of the 3 smoking NCR soldiers.

"Snipers can you take the shot?" Arthur asked over the radio

"This is Huntress 3. I'm ready" Marina replied

"This is Archer. I got him on my sights" a Scattered Bones soldier replied

"This is Huntress 1. I have a clear shot" Elysse replied

"All snipers" Arthur said "Prepare to fire on the 3 smoking targets on my command"

"I'll take the one on the left" Marina said

"The right one's mine then" Elysse answered

"The one by the bench is mine" the Scattered Bones soldier said

"Alright. All snipers prepare to fire" Arthur said as he carefully observes the 3 soldiers "Now"

A second later, the 3 snipers open fire, hitting their targets with deadly accuracy.

"Nice work" Arthur said "Move out"

With the 3 guards neutralized, the small team moves in on the patrolling soldiers.

"3 on the left" Polonsky whispered "2 on the right"

Arthur then signals Vyse and Coby to move into the bushes, near the 2 patrolling guards. "Snipers. Get ready to take out the 3 on the left on my command"

"Copy" Marina responded

After a short while Vyse whistles.

"Sniper team take em out" Arthur commanded as the 3 snipers fired their weapons with deadly accuracy.

The two guards notice the deaths of the other guards but before they could make a sound, Coby and Vyse jump out of the bushes and tackles both soldiers into the ground.

Wasting no time, the team moves into the last 2 soldiers who were busy tinkering with the vertibirds to see the threat. Arthur and Ellie quickly move in and point their weapons on the guard's heads.

"Make a sound and we blow your head off"

With that, the vertibird bay was secured. The rest of the rebels move in to occupy the newly acquired base.

"We're pressed for time" Sithis said "Those shitheads at Gleamist won't ignore an entire vertibird bay going dark for long!"

Lyons' Pride then begins to move into the city limits as the Scattered Bones rebels board the vertibirds, save for one.

Gleamist:

Vicinity of Main Entrance:

"Looks like the battle's already started…" Polonsky remarked as the sound of gunfire and explosions engulf the area.

"Then we better join the party!" Sithis replied

A few minutes later:

The squad was pinned down in the commercial area, as NCR troops relentlessly hammer their position.

"Flyers!" Sithis said over the radio "Can you provide air cover?"

"Negative sir!" the rebel responded "The rooftops make it hard to get a clear shot!"

"Damn it!" Vyse shouted as he fires his rifle "What do we do now?!"

Ellie then breaks cover and pulls out a piece of metal from one of the buildings.

"Ellie?!" Marina uttered as the mercenary uses the piece of metal as a riot shield.

She quickly closes the distance between her and the NCR soldiers. Once she got close enough, she embeds the metal into the ground and breaks cover.

The soldiers open fire on her but the mercenary's perception of time slows. She easily dodged the enemy bullets.

"I-Impossible!" the NCR soldiers muttered fearfully as Ellie punches one of them in the face.

The mercenary then turns to another soldier. She grabs and twists his arms then kicks him in the stomach. As he gets to his knees, the mercenary punches the soldier's head.

Two soldiers then draw their pistols and attempt to aim it at the mercenary, who uses her hands to raise both soldiers' arms as they pull the trigger, causing them to miss. She then pulls both soldiers and slams their heads against each other.

Vicinity of the NCR Embassy:

The rebels push through the city as waves of NCR troops attempt to stop them.

With the help of air support, the rebels manage to reach the vicinity of the embassy.

"The embassy's within reach!" Sithis shouted as he fires his gun at the enemy "Push forward Bones!"

The rebels then give out a battle cry as they slowly push the enemy back into the embassy.

However, as the NCR troops were pushed back into the courtyard, several soldiers, wearing T-60 and X-01 power armor, emerge from the barracks.

"POWER ARMOR!" A Scattered Bones rebel shouted as the enemy soldiers fire their miniguns on the rebels.

"Get down!" Sithis shouted in the radio "Flyers can you-"

But before Sithis could finish his sentence, the rebel vertibirds were shot down.

"Roebuck!" A rebel shouted as he breaks cover

"No!" Sithis shouted as the rebel is gunned down seconds later

After a short while, the bullets stopped flying.

"Rebels!" a NCR soldier said "Put down your weapons and surrender!"

"Shit" Vyse said "What do we do?"

Ellie takes a peek and sees a soldier, wearing T-60 power armor and armed with a flamethrower emerge from the embassy courtyard.

"Shit!" she shouted "Enemy flamethrower!"

"Looks like this is it" Arthur said as he cocks his rifle

Following his lead, the other rebels follow and cock their rifles, all ready to continue the fight.

He then emerges from cover and aims his rifle at the NCR soldiers.

"Brave fool" the NCR soldier said as he signals his men to aim their rifles

But before the two sides could fire a shot, a bullet hits the T-60 Power Armor's Flame Tanks, causing them to explode.

"What the hell?!" Vyse said

The city then echoes with the battle cries of an unknown party shouting "FREEDOM!"

Just then, armed individuals, including a few wearing Raider Power Armor, emerge from the alleys, the streets and the houses in the city.

"Looks like you guys need some help!"

"Jayce?!" Sithis said as he picks up his radio "Son of a bitch. You're fucking late man!"

"Sorry. Took us a while to get organized!"

With the situation turning in their favor, Sithis rises from his cover shouting "Charge!"

The rebels then move further into the embassy. However, Sithis stops the members of Lyons' Pride from moving further.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked

"You got a place to go right?" Sithis said as a vertibird arrives and deploys a ladder "We got this covered. You go"

Audrey steps forward. "Sithis what are you-"

"Audrey… It's nice to see you again. But we don't have time to waste. The NCR may overwhelm your forces in D.C."

"But…!"

"No buts! You have a duty to fulfill!"

"I understand" Arthur said "Pride! Let's move out!"

"Will you be ok?" Ellie asked

"I managed to stay alive for more than 20 years. You don't have to worry about an old man like me!"

"Sithis…" Audrey said "I-"

"Go Audrey. I'll be fine"

The Knight Sergeant was the last to climb the ladder. "I'll come back! Stay alive, Sithis!"

"I will!" the Scattered Bones leader said as he waves goodbye and returns to the battle that was still raging behind him.

As Gleamist was barely seen from the vertibird, Audrey couldn't help but feel worried as she stares at that dot on the horizon.

"He'll be fine" James said as he pats Audrey's shoulders

The Knight Sergeant smiled as she rests her hand over James'. "Yeah… He's too tough to kill"

Evergreen Mills

A few hours later:

Ellie wakes up to the sound of Vyse's voice. "Ellie! Wake up"

"Vyse?"

"We're here! And we're not done fighting yet!"

The mercenary then picks up her gun and gets ready for battle as the vertibird's doors open.

Explosions were occurring all around the base as the rebels struggle to repel the attacking NCR troops.

"The base is getting hit hard!" Arthur briefed "Our objective is to take those artillery platforms down!"

"Artillery platforms?" Ellie asked as the Sentinel points at the distance "Shit…"

"Coby! Kodiak!" Arthur commanded "Mow down as much of the enemy as you can!"

"Roger!" Kodiak responded as he and Coby man the vertibird's turrets and began to hammer the NCR troops below.

In response, the NCR troops began to fire on the vertibird, with some of the shots nearly hitting.

"There's a shitload of them!" Marina remarked as bullets hit the vertibird's hull.

"Tell me about it!" Coby remarked as he fires the turret and dodges bullets.

"Rocket Launcher!" Dallas shouted as the vertibird narrowly dodges a rocket.

"Fuck!" Vyse shouted "There's too many of em!"

"Ellie?!" Polonsky said as he notices Ellie jumping off the vertibird "Ellie!"

"The fuck is she doing?!" Vyse shouted

As she was nearing the ground, the mercenary flicked both her wrists and managed to plunge them both into two unsuspecting NCR troops. A crater forms around her landing site as the mercenary charges towards a NCR soldier. The soldier attempted to shoot her but the mercenary managed to dodge his bullets.

She then flicks her right wrist and stabs the soldier in stomach and slashes his throat.

The mercenary was then shot in the stomach. Instinctively, she hold the wound with her right hand as she gets to her knees. Lifting her right hand, she notices her wound was healing at an astounding pace…

"So…" she thought "… I am not human…"

She then stands up and attacks the NCR soldier who shot her. She stabs him in the knee and punches his face, knocking him out.

Not wasting any more time, she made her way to the artillery platforms.

The NCR soldiers attempted to stop her by hammering her with everything they got from rifles to pistols to explosives but this did not stop the mercenary.

She reaches the first trooper and slashes his throat. She then grabs his lifeless body and uses it as a shield to reach the 2nd trooper. She made several quick jabs onto the soldier's stomach area before finally slitting his throat.

"Harrington!" the 3rd trooper shouted as he and the last 2 troopers furiously open fire on Ellie, who dodges the bullets by cartwheeling backwards.

Once she reached the back of the artillery, the mercenary rushes to the right as she flanks the troopers on their left.

With lightning fast speeds, she manages to reach the two parallel troopers and stabs both of their faces with her hidden blades.

She then turns to the last trooper, who fires his last bullet at her, hitting her chest.

She and the trooper stare at the wound as it quickly heals.

"Wh-Wh-What are you…?" the soldier said with fear

"…Honestly…" she melancholically uttered "I don't even know myself…"

She then flicks her right wrist and stabs the trooper's leg she then delivers a roundhouse kick to the trooper's face, knocking him out.

With more NCR troopers converging on her position, she quickly grabs the trooper's grenades. She jumps on each of the artillery cannons and places a live grenade on each.

Seconds later, all 3 artillery platforms go up in smoke.

With the artillery platforms down, the NCR soldiers had lost the initiative and the rebels began a counter offensive that drove the NCR troops from Evergreen Mills.

The Citadel; Lyons' Pride room

An hour later:

The members sit down in the lounge as they rest after the day's battles…

"Damn Ellie" Vyse said "Diving head first into danger again…"

"Well…" the mercenary responded "Ahahahahaha…"

"Reckless as ever…" Polonsky remarked

"Yeah but at least, we managed to repel the NCR troops"

"Right… Just be careful next time"

"I will, Polonsky"

"Yep… Heard that one before…"

"Hey! Don't make me sound like a liar!"

"Yep… Heard that one too…"

The room then fills with laughter…

Later that night:

Ellie is standing at the Citadel's courtyard as she stares into the stars…

"Can't sleep…" she muttered "Do I even need sleep? Or even food? Or anything that humans need?"

"My. My" a sinister voice said

The mercenary then turns around to see the young man again. "You…!"

"So do you remember me, Ellie?"

The mercenary didn't answer she simply gave him an angry look

"Why are you angry? I should be the one who's angry. Do you still remember me?"

"I know who you are…"

"Then who am I?"

The mercenary then begins to see visions and images but quickly composes herself.

"Gerard…" she uttered with contempt

The young man smiles as he hears the name. "Gerard, you say?"

"You were a prominent Enclave scientist. Like me, you were also cybernetically enhanced. What do you want with me?"

"What I want is simply for you to return to us"

"Return?"

"So that you can make us whole again… That is your purpose…"

"Make you whole…?"

"Don't you remember the pact we made 100 years ago?"

"100 years ago…?" Ellie muttered as she tries to remember anything but fails "What are you talking about?"

"Disappointing…" the man said as he frowns "You still don't remember… Oh well… So what will you do now?"

"I will stop you"

"Stop me? You do know you're going against everything that you ever believed in. I'm still trying to rebuild the Enclave, through the NCR. The very same Enclave that you loved all those years ago"

"I'm not the same person I was. That person died after Raven Rock"

"Pity… But you do know that it's only a matter of time before the Brotherhood finds out and turns against you…"

"What?"

"Did you forget that the Brotherhood also hunts down Enclave Remnants? The second they know the truth, they'll lock you up like any other Enclave member or worse, use you until they regain control of this land and then lock you up or maybe they'll put a bullet on your fucking back"

"Shut up! You're lying!"

"Am I? Are you sure your little friends there at Lyons' Pride will help you? You think Arthur Maxson or Vyse will save you?"

The mercenary did not respond she simply stared at the man with angry eyes.

"I'm only speaking the truth" he said "Besides, do you truly believe that a divided wasteland such as this will revive the United States? No. We need a single unifying body. A body that will govern what is right and wrong and guide the people into a bright future!"

"Fuck you! The future the Enclave envisioned is a LIE!"

"Is it, Ellie? Do you truly believe that?"

"I-"

"Can you truly tell me, right now, that you believe that the Enclave is a threat to the wasteland? That the Enclave, despite all their efforts, is the true evil? Because if that is the case, then you, my friend, are as guilty as the rest of us"

The mercenary then hangs her head low

"You've done your own share of pain, suffering and murder. Don't you go all high and mighty on me"

"Get out of my head…"

"It doesn't work that way, Ellie. I'll always be right here, reminding you of your TRUE purpose!"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Ellie shouted as she draws her pistol and begins to furiously shoot the young man who shouts "MAKE US WHOLE, ELEANOR!"

"What's going on?!" a Brotherhood soldier said as he sees Ellie shooting a Training Dummy "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…" the mercenary responded "I-I'm fine…"

After doing some target practice, the mercenary returns to the Lyons' Pride room.

The next day:

As Vyse wakes up, he sees Marina standing near his bed.

"Marina?" he uttered in a sleepy voice

"You're awake?" she asked

"Yeah… What's going on?"

Marina didn't utter a word. She walked closer to Vyse and handed him a letter.

"What's this?" he asked

"Read it"

Vyse then reads the letter and his face quickly turns pale. "Ellie?! Where did she go?!"

"She left…" Marina said "Took off early in the morning…"

"What do you mean? Why?"

"I don't know… The letter says that she had a couple of loose ends to deal with"

"The fuck does that mean?!"

"I don't know…"

Elsewhere in the Citadel:

In a hidden room, Dallas and Polonsky are using a ham radio.

"Sithis" Dallas said "Are you with Dr. Steiner?"

"Yes I am" the Scattered Bones leader responded "What's going on?"

"Ellie left the Citadel" Polonsky reported "Doctor. Do you think she's still suffering from dementia?"

"Yes I believe so" the doctor replied "While I was restoring her memories, I found a certain anomaly in one part of her synthetic brain. I tried to remove it but doing so would activate a hidden command and cause her to go on a psychotic rampage"

"What's the anomaly?" Dallas asked

"It seemed to be some sort of communicator or hallucinogen. If given the right frequency, someone could broadcast a message to Ellie in the form of an illusion"

"But who's sending the signal?" Polonsky asked

"I think it's Gerard" Sithis answered "Bastard just doesn't know when to quit"

"Damn it!" Polonsky said "This is bad… He was one step ahead of us!"

"So looks like our gamble's looking pretty grim here…" Dallas remarked

"Not yet…" another voice in the radio said

"Marcus?" Dallas wondered

"Marcus" Polonsky said "Ellie, she-"

"I know" Marcus responded "Sithis briefed me of what happened in New Carolina. We can still fix this. I'll track her down and inform you of her location. It is up to you to guide her back"

"Marcus" Dallas said "I'm not sure if Ellie's even worth it! She's degrading at a faster rate than we thought!"

"Then we better move faster, Dallas" the Lone Wanderer responded "Ellie is our last hope and if she fails, this could spell disaster for us, the wasteland and our organization"

"Alright…" Dallas responded

"Ok then. I'll start tracking her down. Polonsky. Dallas. Be ready to move out on my order"

"We copy" Polonsky answered as he turns the ham radio off.

"I still think betting everything on Ellie is a bad idea…" Dallas uttered

"We don't have much of a choice" Polonsky replied "But I've known her for years now and I believe she'll pull through for us"