Chapter 56: If I can’t win, no one can!

Chapter 56 - If I can't win, no one can!

Six had grown tired of Shido's repetitive strategy. Every invasion was the same: a mindless flood of zombies, relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm defenses. Shido's latest and final attempt was no different—millions of zombies poured into the Mojave Wasteland, as Shido aimed to permanently anchor hisHighschool of the Deadworld to the Fallout universe.

But this time, Six still had his ace up his sleeve. His previous victories were made thanks to the system rewarding him with something far more powerful than regular ammunition:Origin Rounds. This special ammunition didn't just pierce targets; they altered reality itself.

Anything hit by an Origin Round, no matter how supernatural or sci-fi, would be stripped of its unnatural properties and reduced to its most basic, natural state. In Shido's case, this meant his seemingly unstoppable zombies would turn back into nothing more than lifeless corpses with a single hit.

Six had spent weeks preparing his droids and automated defenses. His strategy was simple: keep the zombies at bay and let the droids do the work. Armed with weapons modified to use Origin Rounds, his army of B1 battle droids stood ready to face Shido's horde.

As the invasion began, millions of zombies crawled toward Spring Mt. Ranch State Park. They were tough, absorbing countless rounds as long as their heads remained intact. But when the first volley of Origin Rounds hit, the battlefield changed entirely. Each zombie struck by the rounds collapsed instantly, their bodies reverting to regular dead flesh.

The automated defenses did their job flawlessly. Turrets with mounted Origin Rounds shredded through the waves of zombies, reducing them to piles of corpses. Droids marched forward, mowing down anything in their path with cold precision.

Shido's once-formidable army, once a never-ending tide, now fell apart with ease. The bullet-sponge zombies were no match for the Origin Rounds that bypassed their resilience entirely.

Shido's desperation grew. His plan to permanently link the worlds was falling apart as fast as his zombie army. With each minute, his forces dwindled, and it became clear that his strategy, which had worked so many times before, was utterly useless against Six's new weaponry.

Despite the overwhelming success of the Origin Rounds, the endless waves of zombies showed no signs of stopping. Six found himself growing weary as the onslaught continued, even with the powerful rounds reducing the zombies to mere corpses.

The sheer number of the undead was relentless, and his turrets were beginning to show the strain. Many were dangerously close to overheating, and some had already started to fail under the constant barrage of firepower.

Rebecca, ever sharp in the heat of battle, noticed the issue right away.

"Six, we're gonna burn out the turrets at this rate! We need to switch tactics."

She shouted over the cacophony of the combat. Without waiting for a reply, she came up with a solution.

"Short bursts!"

She called out.

"Tell the droids to give the turrets some breathing room— while you reprogram the turrets for short bursts of fire, to let them cool down!"

Six quickly relayed the command, adjusting the automated systems to shift the firing patterns. The turrets switched to controlled bursts, allowing them crucial seconds to cool between each volley.

Meanwhile, the artillery and droids, which had been pacing their fire, ramped up their efforts to compensate. Heavy artillery rounds blasted through the hordes, sending chunks of zombie flesh flying as B1 battle droids moved forward in formation, mowing down anything in their path.

Rebecca, standing beside Six, kept a sharp eye on the battlefield, monitoring the progress as the system recalibrated.

"This should give us more time."

She said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"But we need to find a way to stop this flood or we'll be overwhelmed eventually."

Six nodded, his mind racing as he assessed the situation. The Origin Rounds were working perfectly, but the sheer volume of Shido's zombies was staggering. Even with the turrets cooling down and the droids holding the line, they were still being pushed to their limits.

He quickly tapped into his systems, pulling up an overview of the battlefield. The zombies were pouring through a central location—a weak point that Shido had exploited to funnel his forces. It was time to take the fight to the source.

"Rebecca, send a call so that the Vertibirds are ready to head out."

Six said, controlling the modified T-45s to charge forward with weapons loaded with Origin Rounds.

"Already on it love."

Rebecca replied, already sending the message as she smirked at him.

"Besides, we make a good team."

Six and Rebecca were resolute, determined to end this invasion once and for all. With the automated defenses holding for the moment, they devised a final strategy to push back the relentless waves of zombies. Six, analyzing the battlefield from his command center, directed multiple droid units toward the breach where the horde was flooding in.

"We've got one shot at this."

Six muttered as he dispatched the units.

"If we can cut off the flow at the source, we'll stop Shido's final attempt."

Rebecca murmured by his side, controlling the artillery.

"Let's make it count."

She said, her voice filled with resolve.

The units surged forward, weapons blazing as they carved through the zombie horde. Advanced droids, armed with Origin Rounds, neutralized zombies with precise shots, each bullet turning the undead into lifeless corpses.

The artillery provided heavy cover from a distance, pounding the advancing waves with explosive rounds, while turret systems rained controlled bursts of fire, per Rebecca's suggestion, to prevent overheating.

Together, the droids and automated defenses formed an unrelenting wall of resistance against the seemingly endless horde. The ground was littered with bodies, and the once unstoppable tide began to falter.

"Keep pushing!"

Six shouted, as he watched the units draw closer to the heart of Shido's invasion anchor. The breach was narrowing, and they were nearing the source.

As they fought through the chaos, Six received a signal from his units near Shido's location, his suspicions were confirmed: Shido had gone truly mad. The Geiger counters spiked dangerously high, and moments later, the visuals confirmed it. Shido wasn't relying solely on his undead army; he had a final, desperate plan.

Six's heart sank as the visuals came through: Shido, standing in a makeshift command post, surrounded by four nuclear bombs. Shido, in his desperation to anchor his Highschool of the Dead world to the Mojave, was ready to unleash apocalyptic destruction.

Six's eyes narrowed, realization dawning on him. Shido planned to destroy everything if he couldn't win.

"That maniac's going to blow the entire region."

He muttered to Rebecca, who stood at his side, equally tense.

Rebecca's eyes widened.

"He's going to set them off, isn't he?"

"Not if I can help it."

Without hesitation, Six initiated Goodspring's nuclear bomb protocol. A loud klaxon blared across the settlement. Within seconds, every building in Goodsprings began descending into the ground, thanks to the advanced engineering Viktor had integrated into the town's infrastructure. Massive, lead-lined vault doors slammed shut over the underground bunkers, shielding the city from what was about to come.

Six switched his attention back to the droids, issuing new orders.

"Get to Shido. We need to stop him from triggering those bombs."

The units pressed forward, but it became clear they wouldn't reach him in time. Shido, grinning maniacally, stood poised to detonate the bombs.

"Six!"

Rebecca called out, but he was already on it.

Without hesitation, Six activated Goodsprings' secondary defenses, reinforcing the vaults and deploying all remaining droids to cover the final push. But in his gut, he knew there was no stopping Shido now.

Six activated his Origin Rounds one final time, ensuring they were set for maximum coverage to disrupt any supernatural interference that Shido might attempt during the detonation. But there was only so much that technology could do.

"We're not stopping that blast."

Rebecca said grimly, her eyes locked on the battlefield through the feed.

"No."

Six agreed, his voice heavy.

"But we can make sure we're still standing after."

Seconds passed, but they felt like an eternity. Then, in the distance, a blinding flash of light ignited on the horizon—Shido had detonated the bombs. Six's entire command console went dark, signals from his units cut off in an instant. The wave of destruction raced through the Mojave, a massive wall of fire and radiation obliterating everything in its path.

In mere moments, the land was swallowed by a mushroom cloud, the deafening roar of the explosion reverberating through the earth. Six and Rebecca, standing in the depths of their own fortified vault beneath Goodsprings, felt the ground tremble violently. For several agonizing moments, there was nothing but the sound of destruction above them.

Then, silence.

The wave had passed.

Six slowly pulled himself to his feet, his mind racing. The blast had taken out the entire area, wiping Shido's forces off the map—but at what cost? He quickly reactivated his systems, working to bring Goodsprings' defenses and communications back online.

Rebecca, ever composed even in the face of disaster, laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Did we make it?"

She asked, her voice steady but filled with concern.

Six nodded, his systems finally flickering back to life.

"The city's underground. We'll be fine. But... the rest of the Mojave..."

He trailed off, knowing the devastation would be vast.

As the dust began to settle above ground, the Mojave was forever changed. The horde of zombies, Shido, and even much of the landscape had been erased by the nuclear blasts. But Goodsprings stood firm, a beacon of resilience in the wasteland. Shido's final attempt to merge his world with Fallout had failed spectacularly, and his chaotic ambition was nothing more than radioactive ash.

Six and Rebecca, standing in their vault, knew they had survived yet another of Shido's brutal invasions. But the scars left by this battle—both on the land and in their minds—would be felt for years to come.

Level: 16

NAME: Six XI

GENDER: MALE

STRENGTH: 10

PERCEPTION: 10

ENDURANCE: 10

CHARISMA: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 10

AGILITY: 10

LUCK: 10

BARTER: 95

ENERGY WEAPONS: 36

EXPLOSIVES: 36

GUNS: 100

LOCKPICK: 39

MEDICINE: 100

MELEE WEAPONS: 39

REPAIR: 100

SCIENCE: 100

SNEAK: 39

SPEECH: 39

SURVIVAL: 39

UNARMED: 39