Fallout New Vegas: Unexpected Friends

by Sleepyted


Chapter 18

“We are never to mention this ever again, there are things some are never meant to see.” Anne muttered as they walked up the hill towards the NCR outpost.

“Agreed.” Twilight said, hating the taste of bile even more after throwing up so much lately.

“Let’s just get to Ghost so we can forget about it and hopefully find a place to get a drink.” Anne said, rubbing her temple with a hand.

“Yeah, I’m feeling quite thirsty.”

“I don’t think we’re thinking about the same type of drink Twilight.”

The two walked up the wooden ramp back to the sniper’s nest, Anne making sure she didn’t lose her footing again. The sniper was sat on a chair by the small sandbag wall, rifle resting on her lap. She looked over her shoulder at the two. “You check out the Nipton Town Hall yet? Smoke trail's not getting any shorter.” She asked.

Anne swallowed a lump in her throat, shivering at the sights they saw while in the town. “Nipton was attacked by the Legion.” Anne said weakly.

The sniper’s eyebrows seemed to go up her face a few inches. “Legion this far West? You're fucking kidding me.” She said, slumping back in her chair. “That's not outside the border, they're moving in and fast. Nipton wasn't the most friendly town, but- All right, thanks for checking on that, wish it set my mind at ease now I'm more on edge than ever.”

“Did you have friends there?” Twilight asked sadly.

“In Nipton? Hell no, town was a shithole asking to be burned, just not by Legion. Nobody deserves that.” The sniper said with a sigh. “Well, thanks for hoofing it there and back even if it was bad news. Wish we could spare the troops to go hunting, but orders are to stay put.” She said before muttering “Fucking Mojave's going to hell, and all I can do is sit here and watch.”

The two friends chose that time to walk away to do more work. “Now we just need to see if we can get Hayes’ back up in Primm.” Anne said with a sigh.

Twilight nodded in agreement.

They went into the larger of the two buildings, most likely the one which would have the leader of the outpost. Inside was a large reception desk with propaganda posters behind it reading things like ‘The legion awaits at the gates of hell and the NCR is gonna send ‘em in!’ and ‘NCR trooper, you bring democracy to this land’. Stood behind the desk was a bored looking trooper, his helmet on the desk to the side. The radio was playing music out around the room.

“Caravan, citizen, pilgrim or…?” He asked lazily, letting the last part hang.

“Uh, citizen I guess.” Anne said confused.

“Just need something for the log book, keeping tabs on traffic through the outpost. Although mostly just in, not out these days.” He said with a sigh before standing up straight. “If you’re looking for the commanding officer he’s in the back. Although he’s got a lot on his plate so if you speak with him keep it short. Also if you need any gear checked we can get you up and running again, once you fill out the work orders and sign for the parts of cause.”

“We’d like to talk to you about Primm.” Twilight said.

He looked at them in surprise. “Primm? Hayes' unit is stationed up there, were having problems with some of the NCRCF convicts, what can I help you with?”

Anne let out a sigh. “Primm has seen better days.”

He let out a small sigh. “It has, it was a promising trade town before the escape at the correctional facility. Lost a good bit of money at the Vikki and Vance.”

They stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Twilight broke it. “So, who are you?”

“Me? I'm Knight, Major Knight, I've been stuck here dealing with these caravans for ages now but somebody's gotta do it.” He said with a shrug.

“What? Not exciting enough for you?” Anne joked.

“It ain't so bad, if Caesar's Legion decides to push West through Nipton ol' Mojave Outpost here will be the front line.” He said.

“Well, we’ll be off to talk with this place’s CO, see you later Knight.” Anne said as she walked off further into the building, Twilight following close behind.

They walked down a hall way to the side, a man wearing a wide brimmed hat, dark grey shirt and a bandolier. He was wearing a pair of sun glasses and had a long mustache on his face. The two approached him.

“Looks like we got a new visitor in the ol' Brahmin pen.” He joked. “Not many people coming here in a hurry, only passing through.” He continued before letting out a sigh. “And if you're passing through you picked a bad time, road north has gone to hell and if I let a caravan through they won't make it.”

“You sure seem like you have enough soldiers.” Anne observed.

“Soldiers, no, recruits, yes, and the Mojave Outpost has been ordered to have a standing force at the NCR perimeter at all times. So sending anyone out reduces the Outpost's numbers and would be in direct violation of my orders from back West.”

“Is the NCR sending more troops?”

“Sending more troops, yes, to reinforce the Outpost, no. Troops head through here on their way to McCarran or to the frontlines at Forlorn Hope. Or they're on leave, on their way to New Vegas to piss away their pay, all of them, passing through.” He said with a sigh.

“You sound frustrated.” Twilight stated.

“Frustrated? No, I have my orders, signed, and approved all the way up the chain from Kimball and I understand the reasons. The Outpost isn't a Legion target yet, not like Vegas or the Dam but if the caravans get choked here, that's going to bite NCR hard. Anyway, didn't mean to talk your ear off, some days just feel like more requisition forms and daily reports come across my desk than results.”

“Any way we can help?” Anne asked.

“Help? No, look, I apprec-You know, what, yes, I could use the help and you guys look like you can handle yourselves.” He said with a nod. “I need to get the caravans moving again, that means clearing a path north, there's too much crawling the asphalt up the road to allow it.”

“Sounds good, we’ll get right to it.” Anne said.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Come back here when you're done, I might accidentally ‘lose’ some supplies to pay you with.” He said with a thankful smile.

“No problem, let’s go Twilight.” Anne said as they left the building.

“Anne.”

“Yeah?”

“You forgot to ask him to help Primm.”

“Damn it.”

_________________________________________________________________________

“Okay, so hopefully it’ll just be a few critters we need to clear out then we can go back.” Anne said, rolling her shoulders as she pulled out her shotgun, cracking it open to check that there was ammo in it.

“What type of critter are we talking about here?” Twilight asked, pulling Lucky out.

Anne shrugged. “Probably something like ants or scorpions.” She said.

Twilight stopped mid step. “Really? That sounds too easy, why does it make people not allowed to go through here?”

Anne couldn’t help but chuckle. “I guess you’ve never seen a Mojave Ant before.” She said before continuing on, Twilight followed close behind.

Off in the distance they could make out light brown colored things moving around and as they got closer Twilight felt her blood go cold.

There were ants, about a dozen of them but they were huge, almost as big as her on the larger ones and about as big as a dog on the smaller ones.

“What are those!” She yelled maybe a little too loudly as the ant’s turned to face her.

“Ants that are probably angry that you disturbed them.” Anne said, bringing up her shot gun to her shoulder.

The ants started moving quickly towards them, letting out little high pitched creak sounds of their shell grinding against itself. Anne pointed her shotgun at them and fired, buckshot spreading around but only doing a small amount of damage to them.

“Fuck, I’ll have to get close.” She muttered as she loaded a fresh shell in before running at the charging ants.

Twilight lifted up her pistol and aimed at one of the smaller ones and fired two shots, one of which ripping it’s leg off its body.

With a two loud bangs in rapid secession Anne emptied her shot gun into the head of two of the smaller ants before starting to reload, chucking the empty shells on the ground as she dived out of the way out of the jaws of a larger ant.

Twilight moved her aim to the ant coming for her and fired another four times, one of which hitting right in its head, causing it to go flying clean from its body.

“Fuck!” Anne yelled in pain as the last large ant was biting her leg, trying its hardest to pull it off. She had dropped her shot gun and was trying to push its head till it let go but wasn’t doing much as she was laying on the ground.

Twilight didn’t bother reloading Luck and instead pulled out her 9mm pistol and started firing at the ant attacking Anne.

Flying bits of lead torn through its body, spraying its slightly green colored blood. It let go and let out a small screech before falling to the ground dead.

Anne shakily got to her feet before glaring at Twilight. “Aim better next time.” She said.

“What?! I just saved your life.” Twilight yelled.

“You killed it yes but you also shot me!” She yelled back, pointing to the small bullet hole she had on her outer thigh, blood slowly pouring down.

Twilight’s eyes went wide and her gun fell from her magic grip. “I-I’m so sorry.” She said in horror, taking a step back.

“It fucking hurts you know that?” Anne said, taking off her bag before pulling out a Stimpak and stabbing it into her leg, the hole soon closing on its own and leaving a small scar. “Next time, please try and be a little more careful.”

Twilight quickly nodded. “Of cause, I’m sorry.” She said, picking her guns back up and loading them before putting them back in their holsters.

“I feel like this won’t be the last time this’ll happen.” Anne muttered to herself.

_________________________________________________________________________

“Appreciate the help, wish I had more work for you, but nothing else on the radar at the moment.” Ranger Jackson said, giving the two a thankful smile.

“So, you mentioned a reward before?” Anne asked, Twilight giving her a stern look but the woman ignored it.

“No, I mentioned you might accidentally get supplied and I meant it, not allowed to contract mercenaries at the Outpost.” He said before letting out a sigh. “Still, a requisition form or two can get lost and they're not going to come check, so here you go, just between us.” He said, handing them a box.

Taking it and opening it up they saw inside was a rifle that many of the NCR troopers around the outpost were using along with a box of armor piercing ammo, two packed food tins and a bag filled with caps. “Thank you Ranger.” Anne said with a smile.

“Don’t mention it, it was the least we could do to say thank you.” He said with a grin.

Anne and Twilight left the room they were in, walking past Knight behind the desk.

“Anne, you’re forgetting something.” Twilight hissed.

“What are yo- oh yeah.” Anne said as she walked back to the desk, giving Knight a large grin. “Hey Knight.”

“Been doing a lot of good work out there, setting an example for the others, I know Ranger Jackson appreciates it.” He said with a smile of his own.

“We would like to talk about Primm again.”

“Uh, sure, what about the town?”

“Hayes asked us to tell you that he is undermanned and is requesting some additional support.” Twilight asked.

He let out a sad sigh. “I'd like to help but we can't spare any more units.” He says before droning sadly “We have to maintain a minimum headcount at the Outpost, orders from the West.”

“We’ve helped out around here, sending troops to Primm will fortify the NCR in the region.” Twilight said annoyed.

“I see the wisdom in that, I'll radio for a unit to head up to Primm and offer some additional support.” He said with a nod and a smile.

“Awesome, we’ll be going to tell him the good news after we rest up a bit.” Anne said.

“There’s a bar next door if you wanted to get a drink and maybe a room if you’re lucky.” He said with a shrug. “I’ll hear from you later.”

With smile the two left for the building next door.

The building was smaller than the main one, the sniper nest on its flat roof. When they walked in they instantly saw the bar, it taking up the main room with old bar tops, shelves of alcohol on view. Walking to one of the old metal stools she patted the one next to her.

“Come on Princess, come sit with me.” Anne said with a tired smile.

Twilight hesitantly made her way to the high stool and sat on it awkwardly. “Alright, but I don’t drink that much.” She said nervously.

The bartender chose that time to walk up to them she was wearing cloths made from a thick red shirt and pants with a black leather vest on, her stomach exposed. “New faces in the Outpost, must've come from the North. So, what'll you guys have?” The woman asked.

“Two whiskies and a bottle of Nuka Cola for the little one.” Anne said, gesturing to Twilight.

“Alright, here you go, that’ll be fifty six caps.” The bartender said, grabbing the bottles before putting them in front of the two lazily.

Anne’s eyes widened at the large amount of money it cost but grabbed the bag of caps Jackson gave them before taking the right number of caps out and giving them to the woman.

“Call if you need anything.” The woman said before leaving to another woman at the bar, looking like she had just given up on life and was drinking to try and end it.

Anne popped the cap off the Nuka Cola and a bottle of whisky. “I’m going to make a drink for you my friend, hopefully you like it.” Anne said, reaching over the counter before grabbing two empty drinking glasses.

She grabbed the bottle of whisky and filled one glass half way while the other only a quarter before filling the rest up with the Nuka Cola. She held out the one with less whisky in it to Twilight. “If you don’t like it I’ll just buy you another twenty eight cap bottle of soda.” Anne said. “It’s up to you.”

Twilight hesitantly grabbed the glass in her magic before taking a sip, tasting the sweetness of the Cola and the slight burn of the whisky but it wasn’t all that unpleasant. She brought the glass back up and took another sip.

“There we go, just drink as much as you want.” Anne said before taking a large gulp of her own one.

The more she drank the more Twilight felt relaxed but said to herself that she wouldn’t go overboard with the drinks.

But oh how she was so wrong.