Tanya, at just seven years old, already carried herself with the commanding presence of a seasoned general. The morning sun had barely crested the mountains when the door to Six and Rebecca's bedroom slammed open.
"Get up. You both already had your fun. We're burning daylight."
Tanya barked, arms crossed over her miniature military-style coat—tailored, of course, to match the old Empire uniform from her past life. Her golden eyes narrowed with expectation as she watched her parents stir.
Six groaned, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"It's not even six, Tanya. Heh"
"Exactly. You think success waits until eight in the morning? I've already reviewed the latest production reports, checked on the perimeter defenses, and sent orders to your Battle Droids. Now get dressed—we've got inspections to run. And that wasn't funny, Father."
Rebecca, still half-wrapped in the sheets, naked, blinked at her daughter in disbelief.
"Tanya, honey… You know you're the kid here, right?"
Tanya didn't even flinch.
"Rank is earned, mother, not given. And right now, both of you are technically underperforming field operatives. Also, father, just because mom is a bunny girl in her transformation doesn't mean you have to breed her like one. Now let's go!"
Six sat up, smirking at Rebecca.
"You really gave birth to a warlord."
Rebecca shrugged with a yawn.
"You think I could've stopped it?"
Outside, Goodsprings buzzed with activity—freshly installed power lines humming, railway teams preparing for the connection to Shady Sands, and NCR bureaucrats grumbling about 'chain of command confusion' as they tried to keep up with the rapid pace of the seven-year-old Tanya had set.
As Six pulled on his coat and stepped outside with Rebecca (still trying to tame her bedhead), Tanya was already issuing commands to the workers and Battle Droids like a pint-sized general.
"Discipline."
She said without looking at them.
"Is the mother of victory."
Rebecca leaned close to Six and muttered.
"Remind me again why we let her read The Art of War at age four?"
"She found it on her own."
Six replied, crossing his arms.
"And I wasn't about to stop her when she started quoting Clausewitz in arguments."
Tanya turned, her expression softening slightly for just a moment.
"Come on. There's a lot to do. You two are behind schedule."
And with that, she marched off—boots clacking, coat flaring—leaving two of the most powerful people in the Mojave wondering how they'd been outmaneuvered by their own daughter.
The nuclear winter skies still continued to cover most of the sunlight, though the rapidly industrializing settlement of Goodsprings was still a sight. It had once been a sleepy frontier town, but now resembled the beating heart of a burgeoning empire—thanks in no small part to the seven-year-old tyrant-in-the-making who just declared her parents late for duty.
Six and Rebecca walked in silence for a moment, following behind Tanya as she issued crisp orders to a group of B1 Battle Droids refitting a vertibird pad.
"Did she say I bred you like a bunny?"
Six whispered under his breath, trying and failing not to grin.
Rebecca gave him a deadpan stare.
"She did, and if you repeat it, I swear I will transform and Luna Phase slap all twelve of me into you."
"Noted."
At the center of town, Tanya stood atop a makeshift platform made of scrap metal and old NCR signage, overlooking the bustling activity below. Nearby, August—stoic and watchful even at his young age—stood like a sentinel beside her, hands behind his back in a soldier's stance. Her younger twin had quickly taken to the role of Tanya's right hand and unofficial enforcer.
"August, status of the supply convoys?"
Tanya asked without turning.
"Hmm... Running six percent behind the optimal schedule."
He replied. "Blame the snowstorms in Nipton Sector."
Tanya clicked her tongue in irritation.
"Divert two of Father's VTOL units to assist. I want that delay cut in half by this afternoon."
"..."
"Understood."
The sheer efficiency of the two was both awe-inspiring and unnerving, especially to the actual adults watching from the sidelines.
Boone, now the official Watch Captain of Goodsprings, leaned toward Six as he passed by.
"Your kid just gave me a demerit for not saluting fast enough."
"She docked me rations for sleeping in."
Hrumbled Carla, walking up with baby Anna in her arms.
"I had a newborn on my boob and she still gave me a clipboard to fill out."
"She's building an empire with the personality of a bureaucratic howitzer," Boone muttered.
From the roof of the central command tower, Missy and Levi—deadly quiet even as kids, thanks to Six's and Rebecca's bloodline plus their Ackerman background—watched everything below like hawks. Rebecca sighed as she noticed their matching glowers.
"Great. If Tanya is the general and August her second in command, those two are gonna grow up to be the elite special forces squad. I'm not even mad. I'm just so proud of my little munchkins."
Six chuckled, hands on his hips.
"At least they're on our side."
"For now."
Rebecca muttered.
Tanya clapped her hands once, drawing everyone's attention.
"Daily report review starts in ten minutes. I expect precision, people! We're not savages, we're civilization's last hope—act like it!"
Six leaned toward Rebecca again.
"Still not gonna ground her?"
Rebecca smirked.
"You go try. I'll start carving your gravestone now."
-Ten minutes later-
"Father, Mother, as in 48 hours, a Brotherhood of Steel team led by a knight vanished after entering a specific zone, leaving no trace or reports."
Tanya stood in front of a holographic map table, her finger tracing a red-marked route leading to the sewer entrance near the eastern Mojave.
"We dispatched a recovery unit. They tracked movement to an old sewer system beneath the area. It led to a hidden underground bunker, riddled with traps—tripwires, pressure plates, hidden turrets. Upon entry, the air changed. Sedative gas filled the halls, knocking out most of the non-armored scouts."
She zoomed in on the map on the bunker's schematic, showing collapsed corridors and choke points.
"Luckily, the Knightmare suits' filters kicked in. We managed to preserve two-thirds of the team. But then—"
She tapped a section marked 'containment bay.'
"A massive super mutant appeared. Larger than anything we've seen. He was wearing chains and carried a bag of slave collars. We brought it down, and inside the satchel was a beacon—linked to a signal out west. It referenced something… old-world. The 'Sierra Madre.'"
She paused, letting the name hang in the air.
Six folded his arms, lips tight.
"That's a name I haven't heard in a while. Wasn't that just a myth? Some old Vegas ghost story?"
"Apparently not."
Tanya said, voice even.
"We've triangulated the signal—origin is near the Grand Canyon."
Rebecca narrowed her eyes.
"So, what's the plan? Hit it head-on?"
Tanya nodded.
"No. We infiltrate first. Reconnaissance with backup on standby. We don't know what we're dealing with. The mutant wasn't just a brute—it was guarding something."
Boone stepped into the room, rifle slung over his shoulder.
"You assembling the crew?"
"Yes."
Tanya replied.
"Mother, Father, Boone, Raul, Rex, ED-E, and Twig will go in. Roger, Cassidy, and Veronica were on my list too, but—"
"—they've been sleeping together for a while now."
Raul interrupted, arms crossed casually.
"Figured you ought to know, boss."
Six blinked.
"...Wait, what?
"Seriously?"