//------------------------------// // Ulysses' Divide // Story: Student Six Watch Fallout Lore: The Storyteller Series // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// Chapter 11: Ulysses' Divide The next video started showing areas of the Wasteland, both pre-war and after, that the narrator called near inhospitable. There were endless deserts, polluted rivers, and fields filled with corpses and bullet holes from endless fighting. Areas of the ruined world that, even to this day, continued to cause explosions, disasters, and chaos, which only doubled from the bombs. Things were so bad in other areas of the world before the war that some people even wanted the apocalypse to happen, so there would be a chance to start over again. To give humanity another chance by going a different direction from the corrupted state they once occupied. “So even before The Great War, things were bad in this world?” Smolder asked, eyebrows raised. “You gotta wonder just how everything got to be so bad in the first place?” When the end times came, many new societies and powers grew to enact their ideas to rebuild humanity: The New California Republic, The Brotherhood of Steel, Caesar's Legion, The Enclave, and many others. All proud to wield the flags and uniforms of the factions they had given their loyalty. Nevertheless, the flags of the old world were still flying even to this day. The Red, White, and Blue flag of The United States Of America could be spotted in many places of the Wasteland. A reminder of the once-great empire that fell from grace. However, strangely enough, they could be found nearly all over the Mojave, and it was not by accident. “Could it be a new faction?” Ocellus asked, biting into her pencil. “Someone or group who wants to restore the old United States?” “Isn’t that what the Enclave and the NCR are trying to do?” Sandbar asked. “Well, in some ways, yes, but they both had different ideas of doing it,” Ocellus pointed out. “The Enclave is trying to rebuild America by genocide and military dictatorship with a sense of elitist divine destiny mentality. They think America should go back to how it was with them in control by wiping the slate clean. The NCR is trying to recreate America's spirit with social ethics and annexation while still creating its unique personality. They think America is something to admire and look for inspiration, but still, be their original nation.” The narrator said that the old world's flags, such as the one drawn on a rock, were not just messages but rather a code. Although nobody, not even the narrator, knew who that message was for but who was making them was well known. That messenger was a tall, dark skin figure who had a long coat and duster jeans with boots that looked like they had seen much traveling. He had braided hair locks in a way none of the six had seen before. The symbol on the back of his coat was the flag of the old USA. He was walking towards a building that said “Mohave Express,” and he seemed to walk with a sense of purpose and power in his stride. They could not get a good look at his face, both from the strange mask he wore and his long dreadlocks. The man was known as Ulysses, whose name came from a famous general who united two nations divided back into one of America’s most bitter wars. He was a courier for the Mojave Express, but that was just a cover. The group was shocked to learn that he was also one of Caesar's Frumentarii. “What is a Frumentarii?” Silverstream asked, rubbing her head. “From what the narrator talks about him,” Gallus spoke, “he sounds like a spy.” “Well, he is a member of the Legion,” Silverstream huffed, crossing her arms. “So, he cannot be a good guy.” Good guy or not, the group found themselves interested in him when the narrator explained more about him. Ulysses was a man who respected symbols and the ideals that they represented. His entire life was on trying to find one that he could proudly be a part of. It all started back during his time with his old tribe known as the Twisted Hairs. “Sounds like a cheesy rock band name,” Sandbar snickered as the screen showed the tribe. Wrapped in animal skin or covered in tattoos, the most distinguished thing about them was their hairstyle. They braided them to show their accomplishments in life, with each one being unique to the other. Even after the tribe was assimilated into Caesar's Legion, Ulysses kept that tradition throughout his life. “Oooh! Sounds very similar to Yak braiding!” Yona exclaimed as she happily touched her mane. “Yak gives special hair designs for special occasions like ages, weddings, battle victories, and more!” “It’s a shame that they had to stop such an interesting practice because of the Legion,” Ocellus muttered, shaking her head. “But, at least it lives on in one of them.” Despite seeing his tribe enslaved and forced to join the Legion, Ulysses found himself loyal to Caesar, as shown when they saw him now with Caesar's bull symbol on the back of his coat. If there was one thing the man held above all else, it was loyalty to a cause he found worthy. A trait that could be respected by the six, mostly since it was one of the six main Friendship elements they were learning, but it did not sound all that great for a man like Caesar. Ulysses served the Legion for many years as a scout and spy. He was even the one who discovered the Mojave and New Vegas along with the NCR and their flag: The two-headed bear. Right then and there, Ulysses knew that the Bull and the Bear were destined to fight for the Mojave, and only one would come out as the victor. Fortunately for him, he wasn’t at the First Battle for Hoover Dam and instead was sent further out west with orders to hurt the NCR supply lines from Interstate 15. The tone suddenly shifted to the past as the screen showed multiple cars driving down the highway at top speed. Then it quickly shifted to the ruin it was today: wrecked and broken cards lined up like broken tombstones, wooden poles with rotten wood and crows waiting for food, and endless desert with nothing but tumbleweeds and bones. “Kinda sad, isn’t it?” Gallus said, lending back against the wall. “All that achievement for travel and in a split second, it's all gone.” “Makes you wonder if life is always fleeting?” Smolder asked. Nevertheless, despite all the damage done to it, it was still used to travel from New California to Nevada. Not just for those seeking to find a new home, but trade caravans, military supplies, and fresh troops to protect the NCR’s assets. They watched as a vast line of NCR soldiers and brahman walked down the highway at full speed. Like in any war, supply lines were vital to making sure the armies could stay armed, feed, and fueled to continue onward. Interstate 15 was the lifeblood of the NCR army occupying the Mojave. It was no wonder that Caesar wanted it torn apart for his conquest against his biggest enemy. “Smart of evil bald man,” Yona nodded, but reluctantly. “Destroy enemy supplies and enemies too weak to fight.” “Yeah,” Ocellus said, shaking her head. “He may be an evil bastard, but he isn’t stupid. I’ll give him that.” However, something happened to Ulysses on his way to Interstate 15. He found himself in a place on the Highway known as Hopeville, as seen with him being greeted warmly by its citizens. Despite having been heavily damaged from the war, people managed to rebuild into a growing and prosperous town again, which made the others smile in known its name meant something. Then, to their confusion, the narrator spoke about another courier outside of Ulysses. Someone who visited the town very often. The narrator then said that despite this other courier and Ulysses visiting the same town many times, they had never met face to face. “What’s that about?” Gallus asked Silverstream, to which she shrugged with equal confusion. The courier appeared on the video, dressed in a simple cowboy outfit with a hat that covered his or her face so they couldn’t see what gender they were. They had nothing but the clothes on their back and a gun by their side. Each time the courier moved, the camera seemed to avoid giving them an idea of whether this courier was a man or a woman. Furthermore, it still confused them as to why they were just called “The Courier” and not given a real name. “Okay, I’m really confused,” Sandbar asked, tilting his head. “Why can’t the narrator give us their real name?” “Maybe he doesn’t know?” Gallus suggested. Regardless of who "The Courier" was, they were a crucial asset in helping Hopeville grow as a community as well as its neighbor big brother city, Ashton. Unlike the two major powers, Hopeville and Ashton were united under the old world’s symbols of the stars and stripes. Growing together under a rising power, they could have challenged the NCR and the Legion. Ulysses found himself respecting Hopeville and its symbols. He recognized it had the potential to be greater than either the Legion or the NCR and a safe place to find peace from the war. Yes, this new nation on the verge of a great beginning could be a home worthy of his loyalty. “Well, anything is better than the Legion,” Smolder said before pausing. “Wait a minute, if this Hopeville place is such a big deal, or at least is going to be, why haven’t we heard about it before?” The others realized this with wide eyes. The narrator made it sound like Hopeville was going soon to rival some of the biggest superpowers out there. So why only wait until now to mention it? “I got a bad feeling about this,” Sandbar whispered. Sandbar’s feelings turned out to be corrected as the narrator revealed a secret to Hopeville and Ashton that nobody, not even its residences, knew about. Deep below the town was a hidden military base that held not tanks or guns or robots, but nuclear missiles. Over a hundred of them. All sleeping quietly underground for two hundred years and yet ready to be lifted off to cause the same amount of destruction the ones all those years ago did. “They were right under those bombs that caused the world to end?!” Silverstream shouted in horror. “If I learned about that, I would have gotten everyone out of there as soon as possible!” “If it was such a big secret, how did the narrator know about it?” Ocellus asked. The only saving grace was that whatever was supposed to activate the bombs during the Great War didn’t arrive to turn them loose upon the world, much to the relief of the six. That relief soon faded when it was revealed that it did eventually arrive. Everyone’s eyes widened in horror as they saw fiery explosions erupt from the ground all over the areas of Hopeville, Ashton, High Road, and other areas near Interstate 15. Like the fires of hell itself erupting from below and unleashing nuclear death upon the innocent people as their starting nation was blown away without a blink of an eye. The sky turned red and orange, and the ground quaked, and crumbling buildings were turned to rubble in split seconds. A deep and sorrowful silence emerged from the room as all six turned away with tears in their eyes. A hopeful future for a better tomorrow, a nation that was beginning to take its first steps, blown into oblivion by the very same weapons that killed billions two hundred years ago. How many lives had ended before they even knew what happened to them? What happened to those who were too far away to be killed an instant and yet still close enough to feel the torturous death of nuclear fire? In their six hearts, all of them swore that no matter what happened, they would ensure that these weapons of utter death never were made in their world. It was a weapon that should never have been created in the first place. The narrator further explained just how damaging the disaster had been. The very ground had been split into two, with roads torn up and radioactive energy spread through all corners of the area. Dust storms became so intense they could skin a poor soul alive. It even twisted the animal life into horrors never before seen. It became a death trap to all who even dared entered it to the point that it became one of the most feared locations not just in the Mojave but also in the entire Wasteland. All anyone, including the narrator, could wonder was why? Why did they suddenly detonate now two hundred years later? What caused this to happen? The only person who knew was the only one who made it out alive: Ulysses. “He survived that?!” Gallus shouted in awe. “Holy moly! He’s got to be the luckiest son of a bitch on that hellhole of a planet!” “Yona in awe,” Yona whispered, wide-eyed. “Really in awe.” “It couldn’t have been easy to survive that,” Sandbar muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. “And I doubt he came out unscathed physically or mentally.” “But to lose his home so soon after finding it,” Silverstream cried as she let out a few tears. “I take back what I said about him. I feel so sorry for poor Ulysses!” If Ulysses did know what caused the missiles to go off that horrible day, he’s kept it to himself ever since. While Ulysses was the only one to make it out alive and mostly intact, that didn’t mean he was the only survivor. The group gasped in horror upon seeing red looking ghouls with painful and enraged filled faces. Some of them were in Legion armor and others in NCR outfits. They were the soldiers nearby who had been battling each other when the bombs went off, trapping them inside and changing them into a fate worse than death. The radiation mutated them, but the dust storms had flayed them alive and twisted them even further. It was a painful existence to have your entire skin removed from your body and yet still be alive. “Wait, all that red is their muscles?! EWWWW!” Ocellus shouted while gagging. The others soon followed, with Yona rushing back into the bathroom with a green colored face. The poor soldiers were now no longer members of their once respective factions. Pain and hate had united them into killing anything outside of what was now called The Divide. Fortunately, they seemed to get weaker the further they were from their radioactive home, so there was no fear of an invasion from them into other local areas. That did not stop them from brutally killing any fool who dared go inside their territory, however. The video then showed a wounded and half-burned Ulysses lying in some kind of medical room while Eyebots went to work healing and repairing him. It was only thanks to finding an automatic medical facility that he managed to survive. The base under The Divide had advanced equipment that allowed it to make multiple robots for various uses, including Eyebots that functioned like Auto-Docs. After his recovery, Ulysses went back to the Legion, seeing as his new home was now a ruin. The groups saw him and other Legionaries, talking to some tribals out in a place called Utah. There he manipulated the White Legs Tribe into waging war in the name of Caesar against Caesar’s most feared enemy: Joshua Graham. The only person Caesar feared due to how he survived execution at Caesar’s hands and was now aiding another tribe. “First Joshua Graham and now Ulysses,” Smolder counted. “That bald dickhead sure knows how to pick tough guys. That’s for sure.” Both Graham and Ulysses, with their respective tribes, began to wage war against each other. They were teaching the savages how to fight with guns, tactics, and roman brutality in warfare. Despite their ignorance of what Caesar's Legion would do to them later on, the White Legs Tribe saw Ulysses as a hero and soon began to mimic his braided hair to honor him and still do so to this day. However, Ulysses saw this as an insult to his dead kin and soon left the group. This lead to his disillusionment of the Legion as well. Soon, he began to wander around the Wasteland on his own for his own goals. “I still don’t know what to think of this guy,” Sandbar said, confused. “I mean, it's clear he’s just looking for someplace to belong, and I do feel bad for him losing everything at Hopeville. But he still went back to the Legion and taught others how to wage war against an innocent tribe?” “Well, he did leave them again,” Silverstream pointed out. “So maybe he had a second change of heart?” “How many changes of heart does one need to go before sticking to a goal?” Smolder asked. Whatever his mission was, Ulysses was determined to destroy anything of the so-called “New America” that was just repeating the old mistakes. He heard rumors of a weather machine causing the terrible sand storms in The Divine help up in a place called The Big Empty. He fought against brainless slaves and robots to end the nightmarish storms and rebuild the old America again. A noble quest, but ultimately futile based on what he found there. Still, Ulysses never gave up and left his mark wherever he went as he traveled from one end of the Mojave to the other. All still looking for a way to bring back the America he envisioned during his days in Hopeville. According to the narrator, he was last seen at the town of Primm recently at the Mojave express. He turned down some job to carry a package to New Vegas for some reason, giving it to another courier and disappeared after that back to The Divide. “Why would he ever want to go back to that place?” Ocellus asked as Yona slowly walked back out from the bathroom. “You okay?” Sandbar asked, patting her back. “Yak not going to eat lunch or dinner if that’s okay,” she answered. It turns out that on his way there, Ulysses had left behind a series of new messages. Ones that were all for a different courier known as Courier Six. Was it the same one that had regularly visited Hopeville? Or one who had taken the mysterious package? Maybe they were both in the same? “Whoever they are, it looks like Ulysses looks like he wants to settle something with them at The Divide,” Gallus noted. “Could it be that this courier had something to do with what happened in Hopeville?” Silverstream asked. “If so...how?” The message must have been heard because the narrator said that he saw a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb go off not that long ago. “Again?! Are they just trying to bomb everything until there is nothing left?!” Smolder asked in frustration as she facepalmed. "Are all humans so stupid?” Did Ulysses set it off? Or did Courier Six? What happened that caused the town to get nuked a third time? A grudge? A disagreement? An old score? For Ulysses, the new world had failed him time and time again, while the old world gave him the comfort he never knew, only to have it all taken away. Even now, The Divide was still home to him because of what it represented in his eyes. The group saw a figure standing vigil over The Divide with nothing but silence as the coat with the old world flag flowed in the harsh dust storm. At first, the group thought it was Ulysses, but the narrator said it could have also been the other courier who managed to survive their fateful meeting. Or did something happen that caused them to make peace with one another and part ways as better people? Either way, the narrator made it clear that whatever happened, it was the end of Ulysses’ journey and that he found peace at last. It was some comfort knowing that man who had been through so much was now free of his troubles. If he was still alive, that is, and not at peace in death. “A guy like him? I think he’s still around,” Gallus said, nodding his head. “And I got a feeling that the other courier is too.” “If that’s true, I guess even in the Wasteland you can find peace among your enemies,” Sandbar said with approval. While Ulysses now might be content to be a guardian of The Divide, it was still worth noting he was once one of the Legion’s best men. However, he was far from the deadliest of them all. Specific individuals, both former and current, who were stronger, faster, and deadlier than Ulysses could ever be. But that was a story for another day.