Author's Note: Hope you Starship Trooper fans enjoy this. :wink_smile:


Prolouge/Chapter 1: Would You Like To Know More?

The Vaults were never intended to actually save the citizens of the United States from the threat of a nuclear holocaust. The powers of Pre-War society didn't bet on a war with Mutually Assured Destruction hanging like an ominous raincloud over their heads. Yet it happened, the Resource Wars, the annexation of Canada, and the Chinese-American War were the harbingers of the coming fire. Once the bombs dropped, only a few heeded the air raid sirens and took refuge in the nearby Vaults. The rest, as they used to say when humanity had a history, is history.

From the ashes of the US government came the Enclave, a secret shadow government created for just for the nuclear scenario. They secluded themselves to an oil rig near the California coast and monitored the Vaults. They watched as the true purpose of the Vaults began to take shape, they were simply bunkers in which social experiments could take shape.

Vault 15, for example, was filled with various ethnic backgrounds. Vault 34 was filled to the brim with weaponry in it's armory and no lock to secure it. Vault 69 was populated by one man and 999 women. Some Vaults like Vault 101 were designed to never open and keep their inhabitants inside the bunker for as long as possible. That was in 2077.

It is now 2283, over 200 years after the Great War that nearly purged life from the planet. The Mojave Desert was nearly untouched by the bombs thanks to Mr. House, an eccentric businessman who predicted the Great War's coming and prepared for the future. While 7 bombs did irradiate the outlying areas and cause mutations, Las Vegas, or New Vegas as it is commonly known know, remains mostly unscathed from the initial 77 that were targeting the city.

However those nukes did create abnormalities in some wildlife species, most notably to insects. The Post-War Mojave is riddled with giant Radscorpians, Bloatflys, and Giant Mantises to name a few. They are a menace to caravans hoping to establish trade across the wastes, couriers attempting to deliver packages, other animals, and Wastelanders in general.

To combat the threat, two former Vault Dwellers, Rico and Ape, have taken it upon themselves to be the de facto exterminators of the Mojave, for the right price.

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"Looks like we've got a hive of giant ants to the north of our location Ape," Rico informed his partner while looking through his binoculars, "I see a few going into a cave."

"Normal or fire?" Ape asked as he unslung the Flamer of his back and crouched down next to Rico.

"I can't tell," Rico replied, "No wait, one just moved closer, it's a colony of normal ants."

Ape wiped a few beads of sweat from his bald head and said, "Thank God, after that fire ant nest job in Novac I don't want to see another fire ant for a good long time."

"Hey at least the pay was decent," Rico reminded him.

"If I recall you dumped me in a hospital to recover from third-degree burns across various parts of my body while you spent our earnings all across The Strip in the casinos," Ape snorted.

"Yeah," Rico sighed with nostalgia, "But that's in the past and this is the present so let's get a move on."

Nodding in agreement Ape hefted up his Flamer while Rico picked up his Service Rifle and a large duffel bag with C-4 Plastic Explosives. They advanced towards the cave that would lead underground towards the giant ant nest and stopped just short of the entrance. Rico unlatched an old airhorn from his belt and activated it.

The resulting blare of sound gradually became a distant echo further in the cave and gave way to the clicking of mutated mandibles. Out of the darkness dozens of giant ants scurried towards Rico and Ape. Ape unleashed a jet of flame that engulfed any ant that was stupid enough to come closer. After the surge of warrior ants stopped, Rico casually patrolled the cave entrance and fired at any ant that was still moving. When he gave the all clear, Ape moved forward. They both took some Cateye to increase their night-vision and progressed further into the cave.

Yeah. You obey the comma rule! And everyone other one it looks like.



Off.


That's all that I see. It's a nice read, straight to the point and not overloading my head with some many details that my head spins.And yet not so little that I don't know whats going on. The name "Ape" seems a little...corny? And I've never seen Starship troopers. But nice job on the story, I would like to see where this goes.

Thank you for the critique. While I do admit this opening is a tad short, I wanted to establish the location and characters that didn't overwhelm you with everything happening like you said.

Chapter Two: This Place Crawls!

The cave was tinted in various hues of blue. This was not due to anything natural in the cave, but from the Cateye that Rico and Ape ingested before coming into the nest. Cateye gives the user exceptional night-vision in low-light areas such as caves or underground bunkers. However, it was temporary and could stop working at any time. This meant the two exterminators had to work fast.

"Okay, the local map is being downloaded onto my Pip-Boy," Rico motioned to the electronic device strapped to his left arm, "There is a large chamber about a mile east, I take it the Queen ant resides there."

"Why does that matter?" Ape asked puzzlingly, "All we have to do is rig the C-4 and blow this place to Kingdom Come."

"Oh Ape," Rico chuckled as he set his hand on Ape's right shoulder, "Never one to think about the joys of scientific intrigue. Many eggheads out in the Mojave would love to obtain queen ant pheromone to help their fellow man. Think about it, that very pheromone could be used to repel giant ants, tame them, or potentially cause them to erupt in a fountain of exoskeleton shards and gore. That and said eggheads would pay mucho caps for it."

"Figured money would be a factor in this," Ape smiled and shook his head, "Still, what exactly would the Crimson Caravan want with what is pretty much ant perfume anyway?"

"Oh it's not for them," Rico corrected, "It's for the New California Republic. You see while you were being treated for your burns and I was in The Strip, I happened to come in contact with a female NCR scientist in The Tops casino. We started talking and my profession eventually came up. She asked if we could snag so Queen pheromone if we ever come across it. Naturally, I asked what was in it for me."

"What WAS in it for US?" Ape asked.

Rico smiled, "Let's just say the room we later rented that night would be caps well spent. She also said there would be "More where that came from" if I procured the pheromone."

Ape gave Rico a look of disgust and said, "Well what do we have to do to get to the Queen AND finish our intended job?"

"First," Rico pointed out, "We have to make our way to the Queen's chamber. No doubt we will encounter worker and warrior ants along the way and make our lives a little hectic. Then we must kill the Queen who will undoubtedly be releasing her pheromones to send for help. After fighting off waves of ants and retrieving the pheromone gland, we must plant our explosives while trying to stay alive from what will surely be ants seeking retribution. If we survive, we haul ass to the surface and make this nest go KABLOOIE."

"Is this really worth some girl?" Ape sighed.

"Yes," Rico stated matter-of-factly.

"Well then you better give me the caps," Ape requested, "It's the least you could do."

"Done," Rico beamed at him.

They clasped eachothers hands as a sign of agreement and proceeded towards the Queen's chamber. An occasional worker ant crossed their paths and was roasted by Ape's Flamer. Rico constantly studied his Pip-Boy map and guided them every closer to their goal. Finally, they made it.

Before their eyes lay the Queen, a mutant ant about the size of car. her fairly small wings glistened through Rico and Ape's Cateye tinted vision. They were behind her when she suddenly turned towards them and spit something at Ape. The object collided and knocked hm to the ground while Rico ducked hind a large rock. Ape scrambled to the same rock while patting his chest. Luckily, the Brotherhood of Steel chestplate he wore over his Vault 23 jumpsuit provided ample protection from whatever hit him.

Rico inspected the chestplate and concluded, "Ant spit."

Ape reached for his belt and pulled out a frag grenade. He ducked up from cover and lobbed the grenade at the Queen. The loud shriek moments later indicated a hit. Rico put his Service Rifle down and equipped a machete. He leaped over the rock and ran to the Queen where he jumped on her thorax and held on for dear life. Rico plunged the machete several times into her thorax all the while the Queen frantically tried to shrug him off. By this time Ape came out of cover and aimed his .357 revolver at the Queen's head. The shot finally stopped the Queen's struggling.

"There," Ape said dryly, "It's done."

"Good," Rico said wiping sweat and ant blood from his brow, "I got a sample of the pheromone, so now we can begin to..."

Rico was cut off by the sound of dozens of mutated appendages coming towards them. Ape gripped his Flamer towards the Queen's chamber entrance.

"We can take them," Ape said vigorously.

Then their Cateye wore off.

Woops, didn't see that you updated this, my bad.

Awesome entry by the way. This is a good fanfic, what it has going for it is that it's short entries allow for a fast and enjoyable read. Seems like Rico is incredibly greedy and lustful, guy, but that's just human nature. Nice cliffhanger you did right there. Keep it up, love to see how they get out of this. Of course option A :flamethrower: will probably destroy most things.

Author's Note: I apologize if this entry is of lower quality that the previous two, I want to wrap this little arc up to proceed further with this story.

Chapter Three: Warm It Up, Everything You've Got!

"Light'em up!" Rico shouted at Ape.

Ape squeezed the trigger on his Flamer and a jet of fire hosed down the approaching ants. Meanwhile, Rico scanned around the room now illuminated by the Flamer's fire and saw a tunnel high above their position.

"Ape I see tunnel, but it's a bit of a climb," Rico warned, "And you'll have to drop the Flamer."

"Are you kidding me?" Ape retorted, "Do you remember how much this thing cost? Not to mention it's our one effective weapon down in this hole?"

"Not to sound out of character," Rico said, "But is it worth your life?"

Ape begrudgingly tossed his Flamer towards the ants and followed Rico, who was already in the process of climbing. The darkness of the cave made climbing the almost vertical walls ever more difficult, but Rico eventually reached a small ledge. Ape was gaining on him, but the shrieks of the ants were now echoing throughout the chamber indicating that they breached the entrance.

Rico put his arm towards Ape and said, "Come on Ape, don't you want to live long enough to punch me in the face?"

Ape grabbed onto his hand was hoisted up to the ledge. Even though the tunnel ahead was just as dark as the chamber they escaped from, the duo sprinted down it anyway.

"Crap!," Ape exclaimed,"I left our C-4 down in the Queen's chamber!"

Rico smiled and pulled out a remote detonator from his overcoat's pocket, "Got that covered my dear friend."

He pressed the detonator, which made a "BWEEP" sound. the resulting explosion created an earthquake-like sensation that caused Rico and Ape to stumble back and fall to the ground. They quickly got back on their feet and started tor run faster.

"You moron," Ape growled, "You could've caused a cave-in!"

"Isn't that the point?" Rico asked, "To block off all avenues of travel to the ants?

"Not with us still in it!" Ape said resisting the urge to sock Rico at that moment. Fortunately, light was starting to glimmer at the end of the tunnel. It became brighter and brighter until both men sprinted out and into the warm sands of the Mojave. Rico fell to his knees, kissed the dirt and proceeded to spit it out and wipe it from his lips. As he got up, Ape slugged him on his right cheek.

"I deserve that," Rico grunted and he rose up clenching his cheek.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Ape replied with a smug look on his face, "So what do we do now?"

"Well, first we should inform the Crimson Caravan that our work is done so we can collect our, er, I mean YOUR caps," Rico corrected himself, "Then I'll drop this ant pheromone off to that honey at the NCR base at Camp McCarran. Once that's all said and done I figured we could go to the Tops casino and grab ourselves a show at Aces Theater."

"Or you can go drown yourself in cheap booze at the Atomic Wrangler while I have a nice time in The Strip," Ape said sternly.

"Aw be a pal," Rico enthusiastically, "Let's party!"

"First you dump me in a hospital, spend our caps on alcohol and women, get me involved in a dangerous quest to get some ant perfume, nearly kill us in a cave-in," Ape snorted, "How about you be a pal?"

"Eh, that's fair," Rico shrugged, "Well, where do you want to meet up?"

"Same place as always," Ape replied, "Vault 23."

Ahaha, no problem. Quiet nicely done, I've gotten a real "brotherly" feel from these two. Of course I've never had a brother, I'm just guessing this is what it would be like, certainly feels like that. Nice bit of closure for this whole ant section, once again the ease of reading these chapters make it such a simple story to follow, I don't have to devote ten minutes of my time and I still get everything. I like it, keep it up.

Chapter Four: Now And Always

Rico gazed at the imposing mountain ahead of him and drained his cigarette in one long puff. He tossed the remnants of the cigarette to the ground and started climbing over the rocky terrain. After his trek, he found himself at the base of the mountain and staring at a large gear-shaped metallic door with the numbers "23" printed on it. It was Vault 23, Rico and Ape's former home. Accessing the console hidden in a hollowed-out rock, he entered the Vault.

As he stepped into the structure, a torrent of nostalgia flooded his mind. Rico found himself a chair and opened a bottle of whiskey, he needed something to do while he waited for Ape to arrive. Before they departed, they agreed to meet back at the Vault in two weeks, so Ape could come at any moment.

Be it fate or a mere coincidence, the first generation of Vault Dwellers in Vault 23 suffered from entomophobia, or the fear of insects. Unfortunately for them, the Vault was crawling with all manners of insects ranging from the smallest ant to the giant tarantula. Rico shuddered at the thought of a tarantula, he always hated them and always found them on his bed when he woke up. It got to the point that by the second generation a mass extermination of the bugs was undertaken. While coordinated, it proved to be fruitless as more and more bugs started to multiply and spread. He remembers whole walls covered by nothing but cicadas and roaches being a common sight. At least he had Ape as a companion during that chapter of his life, Ape may have been lacking a fair bit in intelligence most of the time, but he had his brilliant spots. It was Ape who mentioned the idea of going to their neighbors and offering their bug killing skills for money. For a while they did good in their area, only the occasional bug was spotted.

However, it wasn't enough. The bug population became too great and entomophobia had been passed down to enough of population of Vault Dwellers. The fourth generation of Vault Dwellers fled to the surface, Rico was 13 at the time, Ape was 15. The exodus separated them to different areas of the Mojave Wasteland. Rico could not find his parents and wandered as an orphan until he was admitted in a tribe known as the Slither Kins. Their brutal nature and desire for power, six, and profit would rub off on him. Ape would wander all the way to the town of Goodsprings and settle down with an old prospector named Easy Pete. Ape saw Pete as a grandfatherly figure and assisted him on his scavenging trips.

They crossed paths again when the Slither Kins sent Rico and three other Kins to "rough up" Goodsprings for supplies. The Kins underestimated the small town and found themselves cut down by the defensive townsfolk. When Ape saw Rico, he pleaded for his life. His reputation was good enough to allow Rico to be spared. Rico then used his acquired smooth talking skills to persuade Ape to join him in a relaunch of their old extermination business. The duo departed Goodsprings the next day.

The rest is history. Rico and Ape wandered the Mojave and offered their services for caps, weapons, and ammo. They didn't have to travel far to find those in need. Soon they found themselves in need of a place to store their equipment and cash and in one of his rare acts of brilliance, Ape suggested Vault 23.

When they relocated the Vault, it was a mess. While it was spared from the elements, the bug population continued to grow exponentially. Oddly enough, they still remained small unlike the Mojave's mutated bugs. With powerful weapons and chemicals in their disposal, clearing the main level of the Vault was a breeze. They decided to steer away form the other levels because they would just be empty space, the main level was all they would need. Rico and Ape refurbished an old Mister Handy robot they found covered by mantises and made it do some repairs to the Vaults electronics systems and to keep the place nice and tidy. Outside the Vaults mountainous perimeter, they pitched up a sign.

It said "The Exterminators Bug Control", they were finally a legitimate business. By 2283, 14 years after Vault 23's exodus, Rico and Ape found themselves at the ages of 27 and 29, respectively, and in charge of a booming venture. Demand for their services got so high, they scavenged a Protectron from Cerulean Robotics near Freeside and programmed it to take messages from those who came to the Vault requesting their services when they were away.

Rico was still remembering fond times when Ape strolled into the Vault.

"Hello Stephan," Rico chuckled, "Nice of you to arrive."

"You know I don't like being called by my real name, "Ape grumbled, "But I have missed your antics."

"That just tickles my heart," Rico said beaming, "Anyway what did you do with the caps Crimson Caravans paid us with?"

"I donated it to the Followers of the Apocalypse and offered myself for some volunteer work," Ape replied.

"Seriously?" Rico said with a sneer, "Why do you always spend most of your earnings on those Follower jokers? The only time I ever see you spend caps on anythign other than them is when you buy a new weapon that satisfies your urge to make things go "BOOM!".

"They're good people and they're the ones who helped me when I got burned," Ape reminded Rico, "i owe it to them."

"I bet you also do with that Julie Farkas chick that heads that outpost too," Rico said mockingly with Ape glaring at him, "Oh don't give me that look, ain't no shame in liking a girl, I do it all the time."

"Julie isn't like those "women" at the casinos," Ape growled.

"A girls a girl," Rico shrugged, "I'll leave it at that. Anyway, let's see what we've gotten in the mail, Sparky come on over here!"

The Protectron came waddling into meeting room and said "One new message" in a synthesized voice.

"Play," Rico commanded.

With a clink and wobble a very commanding and authoritative voice started to talk.

"I am Vulpes Inculta, Frumentarii under Caesar's Legion. I have left a Mark of Caesar with your robot that grants you an audience with the great Caesar. Make your way to Cottonwood Cove as soon as you can, Caesar himself personally wants an audience with you and it would not be wise to keep him waiting."

Rico and Ape looked at eachother before Rico broke the silence by saying, "Looks like we've got our next assignment."

Interesting, this provides a the backbone for why the do what they do. May favorite part is the dialogue, though. It really shows their character and I like there back and forth meaninglessness insults and their generally playful nature(Well, at least for Rico) and it has developed some depth for your characters, I'm actually starting to like Ape, so props to you.

Couple errors, misspelled anything, un-capitalized "i"s. Spell check or re read will catch them, but nothing so big it distracts from the story, breaks up the flow.

Good luck, and please continue.

Chapter Five: I Hear You Have A Bug Problem (Rico)

Rico couldn't help but break out in the occasional chuckle. Caesar's Legion wasn't particularly known for requesting help from outsiders, they were far more partial to crucifying outsiders to telephone poles or enslaving them. Still, a job is a job and the rewards far outweighed any moral objections to the Legion as far as Rico was concerned. Ape wasn't quite as keen on accepting the job though and he was vocal about it from the beginning.

"I don't feel comfortable with helping out the most infamous slaver group this side of the Colorado," Ape admitted, "Don't you feel any hesitation Rico?"

"Why should I?" Rico asked as he was putting 5.56 armor piercing rounds in his Service Rifle magazines, "I'm not participating in any slave raids, I'm just accepting an invitation to clean up a bug problem."

"You are aiding the Legion though," Ape replied, "Which in turn makes life easier for them so they have the manpower to enslave people."

"When I start caring, I'll let you know," Rico said.

Ape scoffed and resumed packing Microfusion cells for his custom Laser Rifle. After they gathered enough Stimpacks, water, and food to sustain them for a prolonged journey, they locked the Vault, brought Sparky outside to take messages, and departed towards Cottonwood Cove. However, Ape spotted a lanky figure running towards their location. He looked through his LR's scope and saw it was a courier, probably from Mojave Express by the way he was dressed. The boy who finally met them looked no older than 16 and was armed only with clothing no better than that of a field hand and a .357 magnum.

"Message for The Exterminators," the boy said as he handed Rico a folded piece of paper.

Rico inspected it and chuckled, "Looks like the NCR wants our help too, says to met a certain Colonel Moore at Hoover Dam and to do it immediately in big, bold red letters."

"What do we do?" Ape asked puzzled with their situation, "We can't be at two places at once."

"Correction," Rico chimed in matter-of-factly, "We can't be two places at once together, but we can be two places at once individually. It's simple, you can go to the NCR since I know your moral compass can't guide you through the Legion job and I can go to Casaer since me and the NCR aren't exactly on friendly terms."

"Not my fault you got into a bar fight with a pack of NCR grunts," Ape reminded him.

"My only regret is that I lost," Rico shrugged, "Course that wouldn't be the case if I had some help."

"I wasn't going to soil our reputation completely with the Republic just so you could beat up on some grunts fresh out of boot camp," Ape sighed, "And it looks like I did the right thing."

"Whatever," Rico said, "You just go to the Dam and I'll head to the Cove, deal?"

"Deal," Ape agreed.

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Rico had to admit, The Legion's camp did have a certain charm to it. It looked like something straight out of a Grognak the Barbarian comic book, which Rico was a big fan of. After being relieved of his weapons and guided to a place referred to as The Hill, Rico entered Casar's tent. When he finally saw the Legion's namesake, he wasn't very impressed. What he was was a balding man who didn't look muscular enough to be an actual warrior. Still, he did his best to be respectful, though not hard enough.

"I see you received my message," Caesar pointed out, "However I thought The Exterminators was a two-man group."

"My compatriot is out on other business," Rico replied, "But I think I can managed whatever bug you need to be squashed."

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," Caesar said, "A threat my own legionnaires could not conquer should be a grave concern for you."

"So you're warriors aren't up to snuff?" Rico questioned, "What happened to the feared masters of combat that I've heard so much about in the Mojave?"

"You dare mock the Legion when I invite you to my domain?" Caesar growled, "Who do you think you are?"

"A person you hired because you couldn't get [censored] done," Rico bluntly said.

"I have half a mind to strike you down where you stand and feed you to the hounds," Caesar threatened red in the face.

"You could do so, but don't expect my co-worker Ape to help you," Rico smirked, "He doesn't agree with your standards as it is and wouldn't even give you a chance if you killed me. In fact, I'm willing to bet my absence would eventually cause him to suspect you did something to me. Then he would storm your fort, guns blazing of course, and probably crucify you to one of your crosses in irony. So you should probably let me live seeing as I don't share his sentiments on morality and m the one who decided to met you face-to-face."

Caesar was fuming at this point, but before one of his Praetorian guards could make a move, he stopped him.

"You've made your point wastrel," Caesar said, "You're lucky I'm not feeling well, not many can claim to have verbal assaulted me and lived. I may one day kill you, but perhaps this assignment of mine can. You see, for about a three weeks now my legionaries have found themselves under assault my large groups of insects. While well trained, they cannot combat overwhelming odds. I want you to find where they are coming from and put a stop to it."

"What kind of bugs are we dealing with?" Rico asked, "Radscorps, cazadors?"

"Every type and kind," Caesar replied, "A survivor accounts says his group was attacked by a swarm of cazadors and giant ants."

"Well this certain is a mystery," Rico evaluated the situation, "I've never heard of insects joining together in a joint attack."

"Not to easy for you now I hope," Caesar said with a crooked grin.

Caesar provided the details of the attacks, the locations where they occurred, and even provided two legionaries that Rico was given command of. The first attack occurred east of a place called Fireroot Cavern.