> A Courier and a Queen > by Tailspin333 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter one: Awaking/Death > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man slowly opened his eyes as he woke up. The first thing he saw was a wood ceilings and a fan before he tried to get up. He was stopped by another sitting beside the bed he is on. "Whoa, easy now, You have been out cold for the past couple days." A old man told him as he helped him sit up. "Relax and get your bearings." The man now to be seen as a doctor. "Let's see now bad the damage is. What's your name? Can you remember your name?" The Doc asked him. The man on the bed thought about it. "I can't remember it clearly, only bits and pieces for now at least." The unknown man told the doc. "I do remember being called something else, a title of sorts for a job." He said as it came to him. "Six, Courier Six. I think I'll go by Courier for now." Courier told the Doc. "Can't really say anything about that if your going to use it till you remember your real name again." The Doc told Courier. "I'm Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings." Doc Mitchell told him. "Now can you remember what happened to you?" He asked Courier. "No. What happened?" Courier asked him. "You my friend were very lucky because you were shot to the head not once but twice and left for dead in a sallow grave. If that metal follow Victor hadn't found you, you would had died." Doc Mitchell told him and picked up a mirror handing it to him. Courier looked into it to see his reflection showing a pair of scars from gunshots above his left eye with is blue. He turned it to see one of them continuing along the side of his head leaving partly hidden by his black hair which was short. As he did some memories of what happened to him came up. "I was captured. Had something the leader wanted. He knew were I was going to be. The last thing I remember was a gunshot." Courier told Mitchell as he remembered parts of what happened. "I see, well here, I took it to see if their was anything about next of kin but it pertains to a job you must had been on and the item you speak of." Doc Mitchell told him giving him a note. It was a Mojave express order with his job title. He was to deliver a platinum chip which must had been what the checkered suit man wanted. "Well shit." Courier said as he read the note focusing on the pentailies. 'Looks like I'm going to have to find the chip and complete the job or I'm up shit creek.' He thought to himself. "Ok now. Lets see if we can get you off the bed and moving." Doc Mitchell said as he got up. Courier moved to get off the bed as Doc Mitchell helped him. His vision got stretched before it cleared up. "Good, you can stand. Now lets walk down the room to the vigor tester machine over there." He said pointing to the machine. The two walked to the machine with little wobbling for the Courier's part. "Now use the machine and we'll see how you body is feeling like." Doc Mitchell told Courier who used it. His stats are... Strength 6 'it's ok.' Perception 7 'pretty good.' Endurance 6 'not bad.' Charisma 8 'charming I'm I?' Intelligence 7 'not dumb compared to most.' Agility 6 'not the fastest but still good.' Luck 10 "Holy hell." "Well, I knew you had some damn good luck but not that much." Doc Mitchell said as he let out a whistle because if the luck score. "One thing for sure, I'm likely to find some unusual stuff with my luck." Courier said as Doc Mitchell nodded. The two moved over to the next room and sat down. "I'm going to say a word and you will say the first thing that comes to mind." Doc Mitchell told him. "Dog." "Feed." "House." "Shelter." "Night." "Campfire." "Bandit." "Swiss cheese." "Light." "Flash." "Mother." Courier thought about that before saying. "Unknown for now." "Ok then. Next I'm going to say a statement and I want you to tell me if it sounds like something you will say." Doc Mitchell tells him. "Conflict just ain't in my nature." "Disagree. Not going to leave myself defenseless." "I ain't given to relying on others for support." "It depends on what I may need the support for." "I'm always fixing to be in the center of attention." "Disagree. Not all attention can be good." "I'm slow to embrace new ideas." "Disagree. Not going to make it easier for others if it works for me." "I charge into my problems head on." "Strongly disagree. Better to think things through when able to." "We're close to finishing this up. Look at those and tell me what you think of when you see them." Mitchell says as he shows the first pic. "Shadow in from under the light." Second pic shown. "Some piece of space age tech." Last pic shown "A mushroom cloud," "That's all there is to it. Take a look and see how it feels to you." Mitchell said as he gives the papers to him. Skills selected: Guns, Repair, Science. "One last thing and then that's it for you." Mitchell told Courier. "I want you to fill this form out to the best you can to get a sense of your medical history." He asks Courier who does so. Perks chosen: Trigger Discipline, Skilled. "Alright then. That does it." Mitchell says as he got up. "Take a look around and take anything you think may be of use. I can easily replace them." He tells Courier. Courier picks up some caps left around and some Simpacks and doctor's bags along with a couple packs of Rad-x and Rad-away. He found and repaired a 9mm sub-machine gun and made 5 Simpacks and a couple vials of antivenom with a science kit. He found a laser pistol to take apart for parts or to sell and ammo for it and 2 clips for the sub-machine gun along with a few 10mm rounds. "Here you may find this useful." Doc Mitchell said as he give Courier a Pipboy. "What does it do Doc?" He asked Doc Mitchell as he looked at the device. "Heh, hell, more like what it can't. It's got a radio, clock, flashlight, compass, Geiger counter, holotape reader, a map with a GPS, you name it. It'll keep track of your vitals, too, with a little needle that pokes into you. Harmless, trust me. Locks tight onto an arm and won't come off without your say so, unless someone really wants it and is willing to saw through an arm to get at it. But on the vitals, it'll tell you where you're hurt, if you've got any poisons or toxins in your system... really, if you're going out there, it'll be a godsend. Trust me. My days of traveling were hell a lot easier with this thing. It's probably still got all the places I visited outlined on its map." Mitchell told Courier who was very surprised that he was willing to give him something like this with nothing in return. "These were on you when you were brought in along with the note." Doc Mitchell said as he give 2 Simpacks, a bag with 23 caps in it, and a withered 10mm pistol and 32 rounds for it. Courier put most of his items in the Pipboy after being shown how to. "Your clothes were a lost cause so here." Was said as a reinforced vault jumpsuit was given to him. "This saved my life several times out there when I got into fights. I figure you could use it instead of letting it collect dust here." Doc Mitchell explained to Courier. "Thanks for the help you had given me Doc, if there are saints, you are one. I'll repay you someday." Courier told Doc Mitchell. "No need to do so. I was just doing my job. I would talk to Sunny Smiles before you go. She can teach you some survival tricks you can use out there. You'll most likely find her in the Saloon." Doc Mitchell tells Courier. "Will do." He replied with a nod as left he the house. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Equestria, Chrysalis 'Damn those ponies, this won't be the end of it. I'll make you all pay.' She thought as she was flying through the air cursing out the mane six along with Cadance. She noticed her flight path changing to put her head first to the ground and decides not to let it happen... or tries to. 'No! NO!' Chrysalis panics as she tries to move her wings to save herself from death but was unable to do so in time and crashes into the ground becoming a spat on the ground. When it was learned of what happened to the Changeling Queen there were cheers from the other races for she won't trouble them anymore. However by some odd trick of fate, that was not the true end for Chrysalis as she is sent to another world. > Chapter two: Learning/Found > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mojave wasteland, Goodsprings, Courier Courier steps out of the house stopping for a minute to have his eyes adjust to the sunlight. As he waited his Pipboy beeped as it picked up a four singles on the radio. (Will be doing the DLC content in individual stories later on.) He looked around and saw a robot heading up the path. He remembered Mitchell's saying a metal fellow named Victor saved him. HE walked to it was it turned to greet him. "Howey there, it's good to see you're still kicking my friend." Victor told him the screen on it showing a cowboy on it. "You're Victor? Thanks for getting me to the Doc, the name's Courier." Courier told him. "Do you know anything thing about what happened that night?" He asked Victor. "Can't say I knew about what exactly is going on but I'll tell you want I can. I was out for a stroll that night when I noticed something was going on at the boneyard. Saw what looked like some bad eggs and you so I stayed low to check things out. Once they left I dug you up and find you were still live and got you posthaste to the Doc." Victor told Courier what he knew. "That's all I know but I did hear about them going to the Saloon that night. Perhaps you can find out more about them there." Victor told him. "I see, still thanks for saving my ass and for the info." Courier told him. "No problem. Always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. Good luck." Victor told him as the two parted ways. Courier made his way to the saloon giving a nod to the man sitting near the door. When he enters it building he saw a dog which started barking at him. "Cheyenne, stay. Don't worry, she won't bite unless I tell her to. So your the guy Doc Mitchell was helping, good to see you on your feet." A woman told him. "Are you Sunny Smiles? Doc recommended me to come it you to learn how to survive out in the Mojave. I remember some things but I don't mind expanding my knowledge base in case it proves useful in the future." Courier told her. "Sure, I won't mind. Come out to the back and we'll get started." Sunny told him. The two headed to the back with Cheyenne following them. They left the building and moved to the rear of it. She gave him a varmint rifle and 50 rounds of 5.56mm. "Lets do a quick test to see if you can still shoot." She tells him as she put a couple of Sarsaparilla bottles on the fence. Courier put in a chip and aimed at a bottle. "Bang!" The bottle was broken in half. He fired another two shots with the same fate for the bottles. "Ok that's go but I doubt you came to shoot Sarsaparilla bottles. Now I have to chase or remove some geckos away from out water supply. You want to come along?" She asks him. "Sure. Plus it will give me some live targets which are trickier to get, a true test in shooting." He replies to her. "Follow me then. It's not far from here to the southeast." She says as they left for the wells. It took a couple of minutes before they got near the first well and heard some chirps. "You hear that. We got some geckos here." She tells him. "Lets try to catch them off guard." She tells him. They slowly got close as they saw two geckos which are grey bipedal lizards. Courier aimed when suddenly everything seemed to go very slowly. He looked at the Pipboy and saw. "VATS online." He remembered what Mitchell said about it and aimed at the heads of the Geckos. After he picked his targets he let it end and both Geckos were killed as he fired faster then normal. "Holy! How did you do that?" "VATS." He told her and explained it as he reloaded his rifle. "Well that's pretty useful." She told him. "I got another two wells to check out and if you would help me out I'll pay you some caps for it." She tells him. Courier thought about it before agreeing to help out. After being given a few more 5.56mm rounds the two cleared out the other two wells and saved one of the setters who give the two of them some clean water she collected from the well. "Well that's it for the next few days till the damn things come back." Sunny told Courier. "How do you feel like learning to make something that would be useful for your travels." She tells him. "Sure. Anything that can help I'll take it." He replied to her. The two walked to a campfire not far from the third well. Sunny pulled out some plants and some meat she collected from the Geckos. "I'm going to show you how to make what travelers call healing powder. Put some of this on a wound and it will colt it up and allow it to heal quicker." She told him. She did the mixture and then put him through the steps in making the powder. After he made several batches of it the two decided to call it a day after Sunny made some lunch out of the Gecko meat and the two talked about what creatures can be found out in the wasteland. Sunny give Courier 30 caps for the help and they were about to walk back to Good Springs when. "What Is It girl? Smell something?" Sunny asked, as If In reply, Cheyenne barked and began to run off to the right, towards the beaten a cracked road. Courier and Sunny looked at each other for a second before taking off In pursuit of the canine. Once they caught up to Cheyenne, she was standing In the middle of the deserted road, sniffing at the ground Intently. Cheyenne noticed their approaches and barked to get their attention before taking off down the road, away from Goodsprings. "Cheyenne wait!" Shouted Sunny, but to no avail, begrudgingly, the two continued to chase after the dog. After a short while, they watched as she came to a stop and laid down next to something. Courier tried to focus and see what It was, but they were to far away to tell, but, as he drew nearer, he noticed that the object of the dogs Interest was beginning to take the shape of a person, sprawled out across the road. The pair stopped and looked at each other with faces of concern, before taking off In a sprint towards the body. Both uttering something under their breath. For Courier It was something along the lines of "Oh fucking hell, this cant be good." while Sunny let loose a long line of vulgar creative words and something having to do with gangers. All concern was lost when they got to their target, being replaced rather with curiosity and awe. Courier stood silent while Sunny gasped what her dog had led them to. Laying across the road was what Courier thought to be a woman at first glance, only she wasn't. She was covered In dark grey, almost black fur and long dark cerulean hair. Her facial features were... off. A short, almost snout like mouth, large, unnaturally large eyes and the fact that she had a crooked black horn sticking out of her forehead. The only way he could really tell she, really was a she, was when he knelt down and flipped her over, revealing a pair of breasts on her chest. Courier checked on her noting she was clothed. Well, barely. She was wearing a tattered, hole filled black dress that hugged her form tightly and went down to her knees. He looked at her hands and noticed that they had four fingers and a thumb. Why he became so Interested In her hand was unknown even to him, so, before it became a obsession, he moved on to her legs. Long, toned and... Wait a minute.... 'Okay... I can deal with the hooves Instead of feet, but why does she have a fair number holes in her calves?' He thought to himself. Everything that Courier saw was blowing his mind. This, woman, If he could even call her that, was so unnatural to be real, but at the same time to perfectly shaped and symmetrical to be a mutant. He looked up at Sunny for a answer, but she was just as shocked and clueless as him. After what felt like hours of silence but was several minutes, Courier asked "What do you think she Is?" "I don't know, but she sure ain't any kind of mutant I've ever seen" Courier nodded and looked to the horizon, noticing that the sun starting to set. Sunny seemed to notice as well and said "We better get her back to town unless we want to get there when it's dark and wake up the Doc." Courier nodded again and went to pick up the woman. He paused when he saw something he didn't before. On her back she was sporting a pair of transparent, insect like wings, the leftmost being damaged badly. He also noticed after he picked her up, bridal style, that parts of her body were hard, and felt like smooth pieces of chitin. He stood up with his package and began to quickly walk down the road, hoping to get back to town before the sun sets, but he was cut short when Sunny called out "Wait!" He looked over his shoulder and noticed she was kneeling a couple of feet away from where the woman had been laying. She stood back up and jogged over to him. In her hand he noticed that she held a long, thin, black sheath with a handle sticking out of one end, most likely a sword of some kind. "Must belong to her" She said as she fell into sync beside the now walking Courier. They arrived at town not soon after, the sun was about to set below the horizon and only that didn't matter though, because Courier and Sunny made a beeline straight for the house up on the hill near the middle of town that belonged to the good doctor. Sunny go there first and knocked on the door loudly, soon after Courier joined her, still carrying the bug woman carefully not to harm her farther. "Hey Doc, we need some help out here." Sunny called as she was about to knock again. "Sunny what is going-" Doc Mitchell said as he opened the door before he saw the woman in Courier's arms after Sunny moved out of the way. "Oh dear, come inside!" He told them after seeing the injuries and closed the door. Courier placed her on the bed after Doc Mitchell prepared it and left the room to cook some food for the three of them after being asked to by the Doc and leaving a plate on the table as the Doc started tending to the injuries of his newest patient as the other two waited for what was likely going to be a long night. > Chapter three: Ghost Town Gunfight part one > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three of them were up for most of the night having to use a couple of Simpacks and alcohol to heal the wounds of the bug woman for her injuries were worse than they looked with broken bones and slight internal bleeding but they managed to keep her alive. Courier watched her as she laid on the bed he was on about 24 hours ago. "Sigh. Can't really wrap my head around her." Courier told Doc Mitchell. "Looks impossible yet at the same time too natural to be a mutant." He told him. "Can't say I disagree with you there." Doc Mitchell spoke. "It'll be a couple of days or so for her to wake up, I would say longer but she's healing some what faster than a human can." He told Courier. The two were about to speak some more when Sunny came in with a box having left earlier. "I went to get some of my old clothes. Figured she would want better clothes than what she has now." Sunny explained herself. The three watched the woman on the bed for a few minutes before Sunny spoke up again to Courier. "By the way, Trudy would like to meet you. She works at the saloon." Sunny tells Courier. "What for?" He asks her. "She is basically the town mom, so she wants to meet and get to know you." Sunny explained to him. "Well if that's so then I may as well do so." Courier told her and got up. "Let me know went she wakes up Doc." He told Doc Mitchell and then left the house and entered the saloon only to find what was likely to be more trouble coming soon. "I'm done being nice. If you don't hand over Ringo in two days by noon, my boys and I will come in burn this town down as we look for him. Got it?" A man in a uniform tells a woman who must be Trudy. Courier put his hand on his 10mm pistol as the woman responded. ""we'll keep it in mind, now unless there's something you want to buy here get out." She told him. The man just ran out of the building. Courier moved to a seat and sat down taking his hand off it as Trudy moved to him. "So your the guy the Doc was taking care of. Good to see your up and walking, welcome to Prospector Saloon." She told him. Courier nodded and ordered a drink. After taking a sip he spoke. "What was up with that guy a minute ago." He asked her. "A week ago a trader named Ringo came to town. He was shaken up and claimed to be a survivor of a attack, said the one who attacked his group were after him. We give him a stop to lay low as he recovered and didn't out much thought about what he said thinking he was in shock. We didn't expect someone to come after him." Trudy explained to Courier. "You know who that guy is apart of? I can't remember seeing something like what he wore." Courier asked her not remembering a group wearing a uniform like the one he saw. "They call themselves the Powder Gangers. They were criminals that were used by the NCR to start clearing out boulders and what not. The NCR brought them in from California to work on the rail lines. Problem is, it turns out that giving convicts a bunch of dynamite and blasting powder isn’t the best idea." Trudy said dryly. Courier rolled his eyes at that. “There was a big escape not too long ago. Some of ‘em stuck together so they could make trouble. That’s what we’re dealing with now. Cobb's the leader of this group here." She told him. "I don't remember much but for what I'm feeling, I don't like the NCR that much, at least in how they deal with somethings. Looks like this is one of them." He told her with a shake of his head. "Where's Ringo?" He asked her "He's up in the gas station, it's behind Doc Mitchell's home." She told him. "What will you do?" He asked her wondering of they have a plan. "Some of the folks like Sunny will help him if he asks for it. Honesty, I hope he sneaks out at night and takes those Gangers with him." She admits to him. "I see." Courier replied to her. He thought about what he could do. On one hand he can help deal with the Powder Gangers and on the other he could help the Gangers. He thought about for a couple of minutes and knew he had already chosen what to do. Help deal with the Gangers. He asked about his attackers and learned about the group that attacked him. Great Khans with a man in a checkered suit. They group had spoken about going to New Vegas but couldn't going along the I-95 north due to Deathclaws and Caovores having cropped up on the road the past couple of days. She didn't hear about anything else from the group but did remanded going to Primm. He paid for the drink and had left the Saloon when he saw Sunny walking to the Saloon. "Sunny, I'm going to speak to Ringo. I think it would be a good idea for you to come along, don't want him getting the wrong idea." He told her. "Sure. You planning to help deal with the Gangers." She asked him. "Yea, Cobb said the town as two days to hand him over or they'll come looking for him and burn the town down as they do so." He told her. She started cursing Cobb and his friends out. The two walked to the gas station and Sunny knocked on the door with the Courier behind her. "Ringo! It's me Sunny. We need to talk." Sunny called into the building. The two waited a couple of minutes before a voice called out after they heard movement. "It's unlocked." The two entered and said Ringo holding a gun. "Sunny Who's that guy behind you?" Ringo asked her. "Remember the guy I told ya about?" She asked him. He nodded. "This is him. And he wants to help out." She told him. He looked at them before putting the gun away. "Sorry about that but I was being careful." Ringo told Courier. "It's alright, but we got a problem." He told Ringo. He told him for Cobb's warning to Trudy. "So ever you leave town and have them follow you or stay here and fight." Courier told him. "Shit! I knew they wanted me but fuck!" Ringo cursed. "Damn it. I didn't intend to drag the town into this." He said as he shook his head. "Courier and I would like to help." Sunny told him. He looked at her. "Thanks but it leaves three of us vs how many men Cobb brought with him. We'll be outgunned." Ringo told her. "Not if we can get the rest of the town to help us. Trudy said some of the others are willing to help if you ask for it." Courier told Ringo as Sunny nodded. "He's right. Plus if we can get Easy Pete as some dynamite we can use if we can get him to hand them over. Chet has some armor we can use as well if we can get him to at least cut down on the prices. Doc Mitchell can help us out after the fight. Plus we can get a couple more guns to help fight if Trudy is on our side, She's very well liked around here." Sunny told the two. "If we can get them to help one way or the other then we got this in the bag." Courier spoke as he thought about what she said. "I'll stay in here while you two go get things ready. Don't want to go out and have those fucks find me." Ringo told them. They nodded and left the building. > Chapter four: Ghost town gunfight part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Courier and Sunny split up with Courier going to the doc's home as Sunny heads to get the others who are willing to help Ringo out. Courier entered the house and found Doc Mitchell checking on the woman they found. "Hey Doc, Sunny and I are getting some of the towns people to help out Ringo and drive away the Powder Gangers when they come to town in two days." Courier told Mitchell explaining what's going on. "Decided to give you a heads up to look out for wounded and in cause the Gangers try something." He finished explaining. "I see." Mitchell said with a sigh. "No matter where we are people are always trying to hurt each other. I won't be much help thanks to my leg but I help with the wounded after the fight. And thanks for the warning." Mitchell told Courier. He left the room as Courier looked at the woman on the bed for a minute before leaving to round up the rest of the town. He entered the general store and walked up to Chet. "Hello, you must be the one Doc Mitchell was working on. It's good to see you walking around." He told Courier. "How may I help you?" He asks. "I heard you got a shipment of leather armor. I'm going to need you to hand it out of the towns people that come in for it." Courier tells Chet and explains whats happening. "Well I'm sorry but I can't do that without investment of 7,500 caps." Chet told him. Courier hit the counter. "Are you mad? Did I not explain what's going on?" He told Chet in anger. "You know what forget it. We'll do without the armor but I won't be surprised at after I tell the townspeople about this they'll drive you out of town or let the Gangers kill you." He told Chet as he looked at the man. "No caps no armor." Chet told him. Courier shook his head and left the store. Courier found Easy Pete sitting in front of the Saloon. He walked up and spoke to him. "I was told you have some dynamite we can use." He told him. "And why do you want it?" Pete asked him. "Did you hear what happened earlier?" Courier asked him. At the shake of the head he explained. "The Powder Gangers plan to burn down the town to look of Ringo and will likely have their way of no one stops them. If you don't trust us in using it the you can set them up on the road yourself." He told Pete who thought about it. "I can do that." Pete told him. "I go now and dig them up from where I hid them and place them on the road when it gets dark and on the path to the springs just in case." He told Courier who agreed with the idea of other paths to town being trapped. He entered the Saloon and found Sunny speaking to Trudy. He walked up to them as Trudy turned to look at him. "Sunny told me what's going on. I'll admit I don't like it but she has a point about the Powder Gangers." She told them with a shake of her head. "I rally the town together and get them ready." She said with a nod. Sunny smiled as she turned to him and asked how his end went. "Pete's getting the dynamite and is going to set the trap up for them main road and the side path from the springs tonight. Doc Mitchell will be ready to help the wounded after the battle and will keep a eye out for them if they try to get in his home. However I couldn't get Chet to hand over the armors he has. The greedy bastard wants 7,500 caps for the armor. I tried to get him to just hand over the armor by warning him what could happen by the Gangers attacking the store or you all driving him out of town but he won't give us the armor unless he's paid." Courier told them. Trudy sighed. " I'll try and get him to give us the armor but if he doesn't then we'll lock him up in his home and then cast him out of town with a couple of days of supplies after we deal with the Gangers." Trudy told them. "Do you two have a plan?" She asked the two. "I have a idea but perhaps you two can help me refine it." He told them and explained his plan which involved the dynamite trap along with a defensive line using crates and the houses with a few people hidden in the ditch on the right side of the path to surprise the Gangers after the dynamite went off. "It's not a bad plan, a little risky for those in the ditch but not bad at all." Trudy admitted to Courier. The three parted ways to get things set up for the battle, Trudy the store with a couple of the towns people while Courier and Sunny helped make a defensive line. Two days later. 11:45 am Courier along with Pete and six townspeople were in the ditch waiting for the Powder Gangers to walk into the trap. Sunny and three others were on the roof of the Saloon using the sign has cover. Sunny has a piece of a mirror on hand to use to signal us when to blow the dynamite. The rest of the towns people aside from two at the Doc's home and eight watching the path to the springs were behind crates or the buildings. Chet is in his home for he was still greedy even after Trudy tried to get him to hand over the armors. Courier and Sunny had gone out and located the Powder Gangers' camp the night before and returned after figuring out now many Powder Gangers there are in the camp which was 23 counting Cobb. Courier had gone in and carefully replaced some of the dynamite with more made by Pete that has a wick which burns quickly in less than a second. Pete made it to force the Powder Gangers to risk their lives in using the Dynamite or use what ever weapon they have on their selves and none of the dynamite they have on hand. The group was waiting for several minutes when they heard the sound of footsteps on gravel. They waited as the foot steps stopped. "Hand over Ringo and no one will get hurt. This is your final chance!" Cobb called out. Ringo yelled. "Sorry but your not going to get me today." He says. Before the Powder Gangers could do anything Courier saw the flash of light off the mirror. "Now!" He tells Pete who pushed down the detonator. A few seconds later. "BOOM!" The hidden dynamite went off with some of the ones on the Gangers going off as well from the explosion turning some of the men into bloody messes. The group poked their heads over the side of the road, a couple gagged from the sight. As the smoke cleared they saw a few forms getting up and a stick of dynamite was thrown at the defenders but fell short. The group let lose a few shots before ducking down as a couple of shots came their way a few seconds later. The rest of the defenders took out the rest a minute later. Courier walked up to Ringo. "Thank you. I don't know what could had happen if you hadn't gotten things ready but it would had been a hell lot worse that's for sure." Ringo told Courier. "Here, take those." Ringo handed Courier a small pouch of caps. "It's the least I could do to repay you." He told Courier. "I didn't do this for caps." Courier told Ringo. "I don't care. I own you my life, it's the least I could do. If there's anything you need call on me. I'll do what I can to do it." Ringo told him not taking the caps. "I'll need to get things ready to head back to the Crimson Caravan trade post." He says as he left to return to the gas station. Sunny came up to Courier and was about to speak with him when one of the townspeople who was with the Doc came up to them. "Hey the woman you saved? She's waking up and the Doc wants you to be there." He tells them. The two looked at the other before running at a jog to reach the house. They entered the house and found the Doc putting a hand on the woman to keep her laying down. "Easy missy. You just woke up after a couple of days." He tells her. She looked around noted the place as Courier and Sunny walked up. "Hey it's good to see you up, how are you feeling?" Sunny asked her. "Where am I? What are you?" She asked them. "You're in Goodsprings and for what we are. We are humans. I'm guessing there isn't many of us at where you are from." Mitchell tell her. "More like none but were is Goodsprings?" She asked them. "Goodsprings is in the Mojave Wasteland." Sunny told her. "I see." Chrysalis said thoughtfully. 'So it appears I'm no where near Equestria, nor can she feed on emotions anymore. She can feel them but can't feed on them. The questions are now how far from Equestria am I? And what's going on with me?' She thought to herself as she looked at the humans. She decided to play the lost memories till she understands whats going on. "I can't remember a lot aside from my name and a few things about me." She tells them. "That bad? Good lord two people with memory loss in one week." The old one says with a shake of his head which made her interested. "Two people? Who was the other one?" She asked them. "That would be me." The younger male tells her. "I remember things about the wasteland and about items but my personal memories are mostly gone, even my own name." He tells her which made her flinch slightly. Not only losing your personal memories but your name as well. Talk about unlucky. "Some of it is clearing up but it's slow, so it will be a long while before I get everything back if I'm that lucky." He explains. She then noticed she didn't know their names. "I just notice but we don't know each other's names. Mine's Chrysalis, what are yours?" She asks them. "I'm Doc Mitchell." The old human told her. "Sunny Smiles." The female told her. "I go by my job title Courier Six. Call me Courier." The last human of the group told her. "It's a pleasure to meet you three. So when will I be able to leave?" She asks Mitchell. "Well with your faster than normal healing I say you'll be able to leave tomorrow. However with your memory loss leaving afterwards that soon won't be wise. You will be more than likely to get killed out there, there's a lot of dangerous creatures out in the wasteland, and that's not counting the blasted Raiders who will kill you for what ever you may have on you." He warns her with Sunny nodding in agreement. "She can come with me." Courier spoke up. "I know how to fight and what's out there. I can easily bring her along and we can see if anything jogs her memories and if not then at least she'll have a idea of what to expect when she leaves the Mojave." He tells them. "I don't mind going with him if it lets me leave the town. No offense, I just want to find out what's going on." Chrysalis tells them feeling glad for the sound of the Doc's warning worried her slightly if what he says is true. "It's not a problem. Now I'm going to make some lunch." Doc Mitchell told them as he left the room. "I'll have some lunch at the Saloon so no need to get something for me." Sunny called out to Mitchell. She turned to Courier. "I don't know about you but I'm going to help clean up the mess we made on the road." She tells Courier and then left the room. "Can you explain about what she was saying?" Chrysalis asks Courier. He tells her what happened and the reason why. "I see. That would indeed be a mess." She says with a grimace at the thought of what had happened before she woke up. Rarely a battle in Equestria that would get that bad and never have bodies being blown apart like that. Mitchell came in the room with a couple of trays of food and give them to the two before going to get his own. As Chrysalis ate she noted the food she was eating was filling and her hunger was going away. The three spoke some after lunch Chrysalis learning about the wasteland she found herself in and the dangers at live in it. She was shocked to learn about them and concluded that humans are very stubborn creatures in staying alive. Courier left the home during the afternoon to help look for more Gangers near the town. > Chapter five: Primm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has been two days after the battle vs the Powder Gangers. There was a couple of them at the camp who were trying to grab what they could before getting away but a hunting party leaded by Courier found them at the camp and attacked. the fight lasted for a few minutes with a couple of the towns people getting hit but they'll live. They picked up the supplies and after Courier removed the trapped dynamite give the left over ones to Pete. After finding no more of the Gangers returned to town and started getting things ready for the hunt to find the one who shoot him in the head and took the chip. He brought some med supplies, ammo for the rifle and a set of larger clips for it. He was in the room he was given making sure he has everything before grabbing the pack and left the room. He found Chrysalis waiting for him. She was given some leather armor and some supplies to carry. Courier looked at her and noticed she only had the sword on her. "Do you know how to use a gun?" He asked her. "I'm afraid I don't. Why?" She asked him. "Most of the enemies we will run into will be using guns. Plus some of the animals and creatures out there will be too dangerous to fight close up like Deathclaws." Courier explained to her. Chrysalis was thoughtful as she thought of what to do and if to tell him of her magic. Courier sighed before speaking again. "I'll guess I'll have to teach you along the way." He told her. She nodded as she followed him. She figured it would be best to do so after all with what she heard was out there. The two left the house and walked to the road and were about to leave town when. "Hey! Wait up!" The hear Sunny call out to them. They turned around to see her jogging to them carrying something. "So you two are leaving?" She asked them. When Courier nodded she handed over a couple of boxes of 5.56 and 10mm ammo. "I figure you could use those. I would come along but this town still needs someone to be a ranger to deal with the critters around here so this is the next best thing." She told them. "Do come back to town when you can. You'll always be welcomed here." She told them. "If I find the one who shot me and I complete the job I may come back to rest for a bit." He told her. Sunny nodded before turning around and heading back to town. The two continued their way down the road headed for Primm, the next town over. They have been walking for a couple of hours when they came to a shack with a sign saying 'Jean Sky Diving' Chrysalis sensed emotions nearby behind the shack. She decided to tell Courier just to be safe. "I believe their is a couple of people behind the shack." She told him. He looked at her before pointing to the right side before pointing to himself and the left side. She understood what he was saying and drew her sword. The two moved and saw two Powder Gangers below the small ravine they are on. Courier pointed to her and the right Ganger as he aimed at the left one with his pistol. She nodded before waiting. Courier used VATS to get a good angle before firing. The man fell to the ground before Chrysalis landed on the other one her sword going into his back. Courier walked down the nearby steps and. "Ok, how did you know those two were back here?" He asked her. Chrysalis looked at him before answering him. "My people are what you call Empaths. We can feel the emotions of others." She told them not telling that Changelings can feed on them as well. "I see." He said as he thought of how useful that will be. "Is there anything else your people can do?" He asked her. Chrysalis thought about it before deciding to be truthful. Courier jumped in surprise as green fire covered her before it disappeared showing Chrysalis as a human. "My people can make ourselves look like others. We can also do a number of other things but those are mostly telekinetic abilities and illusions." She told him. She new form looked to be a mix of Sunny and a couple of other townspeople with light blue hair. Courier nodded as he knew it will help them when they reach Primm. "It would be a good idea for you to keep yourself like this. While the people of Goodsprings were able to get used to your appearance others we may run into won't be. They'll be more likely to shoot than ask what you are when they see you." He told her. Chrysalis agreed after thinking about it. This wasteland is dangerous and people are more likely to shoot at things they don't know. After they cleared out the shack and finding nothing but a few caps and a couple of bottles of water they left and continued going to the town. Chrysalis asked him about the wasteland and he told her of the fractions and what they want. They didn't encounter trouble an till they reached the town a few hours later mid afternoon. They saw three men standing at a checkpoint with a ruined bus and a hastily built guard post. Courier saw they are wearing NCR armor. "NCR." He told Chrysalis. "Lets see why they are here." He continued. As they walk up to the checkpoint. One of the men jogged up to them. "If you are going to stop in town I'm afraid we can't let you in the other side of town." He told them. Courier frowned before speaking. "Why? Is something going on?" He asked. "The other end of the town as been taken over by a group of convicts from the NCRCF nearby. You can go over but you're likely to get killed by them. Hell we don't know if any of the townspeople is alive." The soldier told them before returning to his post. The to entered the area and into a building to talk. "What should we do?" Chrysalis asked Courier. "We won't be able to find anything about the man in a checkered suit here." She told him. Courier thought about it for a minute. "I say we should clear out the town. If there is anyone still alive they many have be able to tell us about him. Plus we are going to need a place to rest for the night. The NCR have a outpost a few miles down the road but It will be after nightfall when we get there and the night is much more dangerous out here with night stalkers hunting." He told her. He stood up and grabbed his rifle off his back. "Lets go." He told her. The two made way to the bridge only to find mines have been placed on it. Courier removed turned them off but left them there to fool the convicts. The two entered the town slowly moving forward. They soon came upon a group of three convicts talking one was armed with a gun, the other two were holding a axe and a cleaver. "Damn it! Those townspeople are causing a lot of trouble. Does the boss have any plans on dealing with them?" One of them asked his friends. "The boss says tomorrow we will blow the door and toss some dynamite inside. Yea it will cause damage and kill some of them but better than trying to wait them out or force our way in." Another replied to him as he point to the door of what the Courier remembered to be a Casino. He had Chrysalis enter a ruined building to attack the convicts from the side. He aimed at the gun user and fired hitting him in the head. The other looked around and saw him. Meanwhile shouts were heard from the Casino as the two convicts ran at Courier. He fired and hit one on the right shoulder. He dropped his weapon as the other one ran past the doorway Chrysalis ran out and swinged her sword at him he dodge as his friend tried to get his axe only to get a shot to the chest dropping him. The last convict stabbed at Chrysalis but she parried and decapitated him. Courier reloaded his gun and joined Chrysalis. The two were about to continue when five convicts ran out of the hotel. Three of them carried guns and aimed at them but Courier pushed the two of them into the ruined building Chrysalis was in. He aimed from the window and fired knee capping one of the gunmen. The two without guns ran towards the building. Courier left them for Chrysalis as he focused on the gunmen. He used VATS head shooting one before aiming at the other one and hit him on the chest. The two melee users tried to enter the building only to get pushed back by a energy wave as Chrysalis ran out and out the left arm of one off causing him to drop his weapon and fall on his knees. He was decapitated before Chrysalis blocked the swing of the other one's pipe which her sword cut into. She pushed him back before cutting his pipe in half and then stabbing him his chest. Courier killed the one he knee capped. Courier recover the ammo and of the gunmen and then the two moved to the hotel doors which had closed. "Get ready. This will be harder. Hallways and rooms mean they can gun you down from the distance. Stay close and deal with the ones that come close or try to get a jump on us from behind." He told her as he changed weapons to his 10mm pistol. She nodded as he pulled out a small pack of three dynamite wrapped together with duct tape. He pulled out a lighter and give the dynamite to Chrysalis. "Throw that in after I open the door." He told her. "Ok." She replied as he lit it before quickly opening the door. She tossed it in and as Courier closed the door they heard yells of surprise. Suddenly they heard a explosion before he open the door again and the two went inside. They found the remains of two tables and two convicts. The two quickly ran up to the doorway and heard footsteps of people running to them. When a convict appeared Chrysalis stabbed him as Courier shot his friend who ran around him. Courier took point leading the two down the hallway. They past a room which they checked and found no one inside, but did found a safe which Courier planned to open later. They heard shouts of a man up ahead. "Oh get your asses moving! The bastard is getting close! You! Keep a eye on the Townie we captured." Was what they heard. Courier saw a door to the side. He checked it and found it locked. He pulled out a pin and a screwdriver and started picking the lock. A couple of minutes later he unlocked the door and the two enter the hallway. Courier looked down the other hallway and saw a man with his back to him. He waved Chrysalis up who saw him and quietly walked up behind him before backstabbing him as she covered his mouth to keep him from yelling out. The two saw a man on his knees with his arms tied together with the doors leading to another room closed. "Oh good. I was wondering when you guys were going to appear. Good idea with the hallway." He told them with a low voice. "Do you mind getting the ropes off? It's starting to make my wrists feel raw." He asked them. "My thanks." He said as he rubbed his wrists and picked up the gun of the dead convict. "Mind if I join in? I want to get so payback." He asked them. Courier nodded before pointing at the doors. "The rest of the one on this for and the boss is in the room. The problem is there is seven of them in the room and the boss has a flamethrower. There is 14 more upstairs." He told them. Courier pulled out another stack of three dynamite. "That will work. I'm Deputy Beagle." He told them. Beagle pulled out a lighter of his own and lit the dynamite before opening the door. Courier looked in and saw the boss before tossing the dynamite at him. "OH SHI-" "BOOM!" was heard before they opened the door to find five dead convicts with two knocked out. The three were going to tie up the knocked out ones when they heard shouts of anger as the last of the convicts came downstairs. They fall back as the convicts ran into the room. Courier and Beagle fired a couple of rounds each killing three convicts as they moved to the counter and fridges and took cover. They traded shots with the convicts before a stick of dynamite was throw in. Chrysalis grabbed it and tossed it back before it blew up near another convict was about to light a stick of dynamite from the row of dynamite he had on him causing a fair sized explosion. Seven of the convicts were killed by it while the rest where injured. The three ran out Chrysalis killing two with Courier and Beagle killing the rest. The only convicts left where the ones knocked out. Beagle tied them up while Courier grabbed what ever was usable. They left the hotel to find a crowd of people waiting with guns aimed at them. When the saw Beagle they put their guns down. "Beagle, boy am I glad to see you are alive. We thought you were dead when those convicts caught you. Who are those people with you?" A man in his 50s asked Beagle. "Those two are the people who got me out of the jam and killed the convicts but those two Johnson." Beagle told the man. "They are- oh I didn't catch your names." He asked Courier and Chrysalis. "I'm Courier Six, this is Chrysalis." Courier replied. "Courier Six? I was wondering what happened to you." Johnson told Courier. "I'm sorry I don't know you. When I was on they job I got attacked for the package and was shot to the head." Courier told Johnson showing the scar. "I can't remember anything but a few bits and pieces. It's coming back but slowly." He told him. "I'm currently tracking down the man that did it." He saw and told them of the man in a checkered suit and the Great Khans. "Well then I can repay you for helping me out." Beagle told Courier. "I was out looking for supplies when I saw this man of yours. He and the Khans where walking along the underpass. I overheard them say they are going to Novac before heading to Boulder City for payment." Beagle told the two. "You have my thanks." Courier told Beagle. Beagle nodded before heading to the NCR camp to drop off the convicts. Johnson stepped up to the two as some of the towns people headed into the hotel to clean up the bodies while the rest headed for their homes. "Since you are going after the one who attacked you then I won't have to sent a team after you which is good for you are one of the best couriers we have." Johnson told Courier. "That's good to hear. Do you know anything about me?" Courier asked Johnson. "Unfortunately no, But I can tell you of the job if you want?" Johnson asked Courier who nodded. "Ok I don't know who requested the job but it wasn't the only one. There was six items that were to be transported to New Vegas. Aside from the chip there was also a set of oversized pair of dice, a chess piece, and a couple of other items. The client used a cowboy robot to get it all done. I had gotten word that the other five jobs have been payed for so I guess it's your chip that didn't make it. The first person we hired to do the job canceled. Hope a storm for the Divide skins him alive. Well, that's where you came in." Johnson told Courier. "Any idea who he is and why he quit the job?" Courier asked Johnson. He was wonder if the man know of what was going to happen. "I don't know who he was but he got this look when he saw your name on the Courier list. He turn right around and asked me if you were for real. I told him you were still kicking like the lack of rain. He then turned down the job right then and there. I asked him if he was sure, it was good money and he was. No, let "Courier Six" carry the package, that's what he said - like the Mojave'd sort you out or something. Then he just up and walked out." Johnson said with a shake of his head. Courier and Chrysalis looked at each other with the same thought on their minds. They will need to find this man to learn why he doesn't like Courier after this is all done. Johnson spoke to the townspeople leave the hotel for a minute before turning to the two. "You two can stay in the Hotel for the night for free as payment for saving our hides." Johnson told them. The two decided to agree to the offer. They were shown to the rooms on the second floor which had been cleaned up from the mess made by the convicts. The two were given a room each and they unpacked their items. Courier headed back down and found no one in the room with the safe and got to work on it. It took him several minutes for him get it open also involving three bobby pins being broken. He got it unlocked and looked inside to find stacks of prewar money. It doesn't have a full value as it did before but it still can be used to buy things. If there was a rate of value between the old money and caps then it's three bills for one cap. Courier pocketed the money and also found a instruction on learning how to shoot a gun bullet or laser and a laser pistol in very good condition. He kept both for Chrysalis to use along with the power cells for the pistol. He was going to leave when he saw a glint and found a false bottom, he pulled up and .357 Magnum revolver with a poker club on both sides of the ivory handle and the word Lucky. 'Good name for it nearly didn't find it but did by luck.' He thought as he returned to his room and after putting away the money and pistols went out and knocked on the door of Chrysalis's room. "Who is it?" Chrysalis asked. "It's me, Courier. I got something for you." He told her. Chrysalis opened the door and let him into her room. "Here. I found this in the safe we found. Because you don't know how to use guns I figured it would be better for you to do know. Sooner or later we are going to run into people who only used guns and nothing for you to use to get close to them to use your sword. Plus some of the things out in the waste like Deathclaws are too dangerous to try and get close to." He told her his reasoning. Chrysalis considered it and had to agree with Courier. This new world she is in is a lot more dangerous than her old one. "Very well. But there is a problem, I can read but not what you use for your books." She told him having found that out when she tried to read one of the books the Doc has. "I see. Then I'm going to have to teach you." Courier told her. He found a pencil and blank paper along with two clipboards. ""Here." He said as he give her a pencil, some paper, and a clipboard. "You write the letter of your language down and I'll do the same with mine. Then we will do comparisons of each on so you can put them together and be able to read the human written language." He told her. She nodded and did that as he started as well. > chapter six > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Courier woke up the next day in his room which he returned to the night before. He got up and dressed up in his clothes and armor before grabbing his pistol and putting it on. He left the rest of his items in the room planning to teach Chrysalis how to shoot a gun. He knocked on the door to Chrysalis's room and waited. "Please wait a minute." She called out. A couple of minutes later and Chrysalis opened the door. "Yes?" She asked him. "I'm heading down to get some food. Would you like to join me?" He asked her. She thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Grab your laser pistol and the mirofusion cells for it. I plan have us stay in town for a day to teach you how to use it. While I would like to go after the checkered man you learning how to shoot is higher on the list and doing it here will be safer." He told her. Chrysalis was surprised by what he said but after thinking about it had to conclude that he was correct. Besides things may end up with her having to to fight at range and she would not have to rely on just her magic when the time comes. After she grabbed the pistol and cells the two headed downstairs. They checked the room where the tables were but found it as it was the day before so they headed to the kitchen. Courier checked the food before grabbing a box of Yum Yum Deviled Eggs, Gecko meat, and Banana Yucca fruit. He past a fruit to Chrysalis before he started cooking the eggs and meat eating a fruit as well. A few minutes later they where done and he put them on two plates and set them on a table. Chrysalis grabbed two bottles of clean water. As the two ate some of the townspeople joined them heading into the kitchen to make food before picking a table to eat at while talking to each other. They were joined by Beagle. "You mind if I join you?" He asked them. When they nodded he sat down. "So what are you two going to do now?" He asked them. "I'm going to teach Chrysalis how to use a gun. There isn't many from where she came from thus the sword she has." Courier told Beagle which he figured from what little Chrysalis has said about it. She nodded in agreement as she thought about telling Courier more about herself later and the fact she is more than likely from another world than this one. "I see. Well if you are going to do it out of town be careful. We get ferals wondering in from the desert from time to time from the sounds of our town, hell I'm not going to be surprised if we get a good number during the next few days from the gun shots of the fights during the last couple of days." Beagle said unhappy with the thought of dealing with ferals wanting to relax and things to settle back down. "If we encounter any we'll deal with them." Courier told him. Beagle give a nod of thanks before leaving the table. Courier and Chrysalis left the hotel and headed out to the desert around the town carrying a couple dozen cans and bottles. Courier set them up at different locations at different ranges for Chrysalis to get the idea of the range of the pistol. Chrysalis held the gun as she was shown with Courier correcting the location of her arm to her body. The two did the practice for a couple of hours when suddenly. "GROWL!" Was heard when a trio of ferals appeared from over a nearby hill running at them. Courier pulled out his 10mm pistol and fired hitting one on the leg making him go down. Chrysalis reacted in surprise and fired without aiming but got lucky with one of her shots it hitting a eye and then the brain of one of the two remaining ferals. Courier aimed and fired a double tap into the last feral still standing killing it. Courier fired another shot to the head of it to be sure it was dead as Chrysalis pulled out her blade and stabbed the one shot in the leg which hit the knee forcing it to crawl in the head. Chrysalis looked at the ferals with shock on how they looked. "Yea. It's not a petty sight to look at them. Most are those from after the great war when they weren't killed by the bombs while the rest are those who were unlucky to end up irradiated badly. It's believed they were people who didn't have much food to find and went mad because of hunger or the high amount of radiation did cause them to go feral." Courier told her. "I say a combination of both." He spoke. "So do you want to keep practicing or stop?" He asked her. Chrysalis thought about it before putting her sword away and picking up the pistol which she dropped as she shook her head no as she pointed to the cans which could barely be used as targets anymore. The two returned to the town. The encountered Beagle when they entered town. "Hey go to see your ok. How did it go?" He asked the two. "It went well for the most part till a three ferals appeared and attacked. No injuries but we decided to stop in the event more came, plus we where going to have to stop for we were almost out of targets to use. Plus it's past noon." Courier replied to him. "Well enjoy the food and hope the practice goes well." Beagle told them as he sighed looking worn out. Courier decided to ask him what's up. "You alright?" He asked Beagle. "It's not easy doing this by myself. Used to be me along with the sheriff and another deputy but now I'm having trouble keeping up with things around here. Add in the people killed by the convicts and the NCR pushing to take over the town and I'm not having a good day." Beagle told him. Courier thought to himself for a minute when he remembered the protectron in the casino. "If you want I can work on the protectron and turn on the law enforcement protocol and make it so it will deferred to you as it's commander and those who take over as sheriff after you along with leaving the punishments to you as well." He told Beagle. "If you can do that it will help a lot. I can deal with the internal problems while he deals with the ferals and other problems from the desert." Beagle replied with a smile. Beagle lead them into the Vikki and Vance casino. Courier went to Primm Slim and after a couple of hours work stopping only for lunch it was done. Two days later... Courier checked his supplies as he got ready to head to the outpost before heading to Nipton and then Novac. He left the room and found Chrysalis and ED-E waiting for him in the hallway. Courier had repaired ED-E the day before when he saw the bot in the Mojave Express when he meet with Johnson and asked but it. He decided to try his hand on it and had the things needed for a near full repair aside from a fried data bank. The three exited the hotel to the road east. It was a few hours of walking the only form of trouble was a group of raiders who were hiding out in the old Nevada patrol station. Courier took out the two outside which brought the rest of the group inside out. Nine raiders came running out into the fire of the three Courier killed two with his rifle while EDE killed another three one turning into a pile of ash and Chrysalis killing the rest three by laser and the last was beheaded after she ducked and swing her blade at him. They had came to the intersection that leads to the outpost and Nipton. They were going to head to the outpost when Chrysalis noticed something. "Courier. Does that look like smoke to you?" She asked him. Courier turned and saw the smoke she spoke of. "Ah hell. That's likely coming from Nipton, that the only reason for so much smoke to be coming from that direction, the town must has been attacked." He said with a grim look. "I'm going to ask to see if there any men the NCR can spare for when we get to the outpost when we check out the town tomorrow, it's getting dark." He told her. She nodded and the three headed up hill. She did ask one more question. "Do you know who could had done that?" She asked him. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "From what I have learned and remember, two groups. The Powder Gangers or the Legion, I'm hoping it's the former because if not it won't be a pretty sight, plus the Legion hasn't been this far west before from what I remember." Was all he said. They two made their way up to the outpost as Chrysalis turned into her human form. As they walked through the outpost Courier noted the caravans in the pens and Merchants and their hired guards loitering the area. The two enter the headquarters and Courier walked up to the desk. "I need to speak with your commander. Nipton has been attacked." He tells the man behind the desk. "Shit. Follow me." He said and lead them into the building. The two were brought to a man in a uniform that Courier knew was a ranger with some of the additions he saw to the outfit. "Sir! This man says Nipton as been attacked." The Major told him. He looked at me. "Do you know who the attackers are?" He asked me. I shook my head no. "My friend and I came from the north. We saw at least two plumes of smoke coming from the town in the distance from the intersection." Courier explained to the ranger. "And if you are able to see the smoke from that far then it must be a fair size blaze to never the less which around here is only something that is possible from a building being burned down or worse." He said with a shake of his head. "I'm guessing you want to have some men go with you to check it out?" He asked Courier who nodded. "I would have to follow orders but a attack on a town is something I won't let by. You'll get three squads of men and one ranger as back up. Check out the town, find any survivors, and kill the ones who done the attack if their still around. Understood?" He asked Courier. "I do. We won't be returning to the outpost after we check Nipton. We need to head to Novac for a job." Courier explained. Jackson nodded in understanding. "Go get some rest you two. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and the trip to Novac will be longer after you finish." He told the two. "You can sleep in the barracks." He said as he turn to leave. The two headed for the outpost barracks and claimed a pair of beds. > Chapter 7: Nipton > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Courier checked his rifle as Chrysalis sharpened the blade of her sword with a weatstone as the waited as EDE flew around. A few minutes later a woman in a Ranger uniform and three squads of four men each came up to them. "Your Courier Six and Chrysalis?" She asked the two. Courier nodded to her. "I'm Ranger Ghost and those are Lima, Kain, and Oran squads." She tells the two. Courier nods to them. "As you may had been told my friend and I had seen smoke coming from Nipton and as you can see it's still coming up from whatever's burning when most people would had put it out, so we think the Legion may had been behind it. While we could had gone around it wouldn't help for there is only one road to Novac without having to go around the mountains. So the three of us will help you out in clearing out any Legion that are still in town and rescue any survivors if possible." He explains to them. "Ranger Ghost you and Lima squad will take the hill above the town near the town hall give use fire support. The other two squads will go around both directions to catch them in a crossfire while the two of us will draw out any legion forces. We'll give you half a hour before heading into the town." He tells them the plan. "Sir? Will the two of you be alright? Ya will be right in the middle of it." One of the squad leaders asks Courier. "I meant it when I said I'm called Courier Six. I'm a Courier and part of the caravan code in the wastes out here says not to fuck with your mailman. I'll be showing you why." He says with a slightly bloodthirstily grin making the man gulp in fear. Courier had regain some of his memories along the way and during the night and while not what he would call memories he cares for it did so that he wasn't to be fucked with for he had killed a good number of things that still in the way of his jobs including a fucking Death claw that nearly did him in on the first job. The group headed down the road taking the one that lead to Nipton. They ended up having to clear out an nest of Raiders in the ruins of a rest some midway but those unlucky bastards were killed getting caught off guard and shot. The squads departed from the three and soon after the half hour past they when toward the town. They saw a pair of banners flying showing an red Bull. "Fuck, Legion. Chrysalis don't drop your trick. Those fucks will try and kill you without a thought." Courier tells her. "Stay close too. If they get their hands on you it'll better to be dead than alive. They use women as slaves and fuck toys." He warned her causing her to get closer to him. They walked through the town seeing heads on pikes, bodies on crosses, burning piles of wood, dead, and tires, the sight of which caused Chrysalis to gag keeping herself from throwing up having never seen a sight like that before in her old world. They where soon nearing the town hall when a group of Legion came out of the building and the homes around them causing them to go back to back with EDE floating above the two's heads. There was 8 recruits and two primes each on the two's left and right with another 21 recruits and 11 primes in front of the town hall along with nine tamed mutts and eight decanus. The real trouble was a pair of frumentarii with a fucking vexillarius leading the group from the town hall. "Shit. Not good." Courier whispered. The Vexillarius walked up a few feet to them before stopping. "Ah good. I was wondering if we were going to have someone come by before we left." He told them. "What the hell do you want?" Courier asks him as he grabbed a grenade. "I want you to spread the word of the great deed we had done here. Tell the NCR." Was the answer before the man rejoined the group. The Legionnaires joined the group when Courier acted. He tossed the grenade into the middle of the group before using Vats while it was still airborne and shot it. It blew up over the heads of the Legionnaires killing nine and wounding many others as the three ran to the side of an house as EDE opened fire killing one. An "CRACK!" was heard as the Vexillarius's head became mist as the squads opened fire downing three more and five of the mutts. Courier fired his rifle killing one as Chrysalis turned another into ash. The remaining Legion had split into some ducking into cover as the rest charged drawing blades or spears. Suddenly one of the mutts knocked Courier down as it tried to bite his throat out. Chrysalis kicked it off him as she shot it when one of the frumentarii grabbed her and tried to stab her only to get shot by Courier's 10mm in the head. He then aimed down the street as nine Legionnaires ran towards them causing him to roll out of the way of four thrown spears. Chrysalis ran forward to meet them drawing her own blade but not before shooting one in the head. Courier shot one when he tried to attack her from behind as he got up and she gutted another. They killed the remaining seven by head shots from Courier, EDE burning holes into them, and Chrysalis's skill with the blade and looked around as the noticed the sounds of gun fire had stopped. They walked tot he steps of the town hall carefully for any of the Legionnaires playing dead or keeping their heads down. Soon they were met by the NCR soldiers. Two were missing. "Their okay." Kain squad leader noticed their looks. "One got brained over the head by a Legionnaire and the other's checking him out." He explained. "Still this is a damn good mission done." Ghost spoke up. "I saw the man you spoke he before I killed him. That was Vulpes Inculta, Leader of the frumentarii. With him dead the Legion will be weaken for a time till a new leader for them has taken over. Even so this will make things easier for us." She explained. "Still the Legion had never gotten this far west before." She said with a worried voice. "True." Courier. "Once word of what happened he spreads it's going to cause some panic." He continued. The NCR soldiers nodded in agreement and went to other two joined up with them they left to return to the outpost. Courier turned to Chrysalis. "Let's take a look around and see if there's anything we can make use of here. Better in our hands that left for Raiders or Legion to come and make use of if they don't trash it for being too high tech for them." He tells her. She nods in agreement and the two started with the bodies of the Legionnaires. They didn't get much aside from antivenom, ammo for Courier's guns and a Ripper from Vulpes. They entered the town hall seeing bodies of six townspeople and four Legionnaires. After checking bodies and Courier finding a key behind the desk and nearly losing a leg to a hidden frag mine they checked out the closed door finding it lead to the basement of the hall were they found some medical supplies, food, and weapon repair kits. The rest off the first floor was filled with bodies and had three Legion mutts they had to kill. The second floor was the same aside from some caps they picked up. The top floor in the major's office after Courier hacked into the computer they learned of the man's plans. "The fool. There's no damn good reason for him to had thought this was a good idea. What I remember of this town tells me this was nothing but a way for the Legion to do what they had done." Courier said as he shook his head at what he read. "How so?" Chrysalis asked him. "The Legion had banned all use of old world Medical supplies and whoring. It was nothing but a way for them to do the maximum amount of damage to everyone they want dead and a statement of their views." He explained to her. "Oh. I don't understand how the Legion had formed like this. Wouldn't had anyone stopped them?" She asked him. "Out here in the Wastelands after the Old World vanished in nuclear fire law and order broke down. While it has returned here and there, it's more in the view of whoever had the most power in that time. The legion was formed 20 nearly or so years ago in a area that had many tribes that fought one another. When it started Caesar had the nearby tribes either destroyed or incorporated and due to that the Legion kept growing in power. Due to this they had taken over or destroyed a total of 63 tribes or so. The NCR was the first group they had encountered that could stop them dead cold three years ago when the Legion attacked the Dam." He told her of what knowledge he remembered as he worked on lock picking the door behind the desk. Chrysalis took in the info as she watched him. She thought of them and what she had done before coming to this world. 'What is with this world and the humans doing things like this. Why do they still fight over what remains when they should be doing that they can to recover what they lost and heal their world.' She thought to herself. While she admits to herself she would had done some things like the humans but what they had done to themselves and their world was too far for her to even consider and made her rethink of some of the things she had planned in the event of all out war, not that they could had been done now she here in this world. "Got it" Courier said as the door opened. A look inside showed some ammo and a couple of guns. Courier looked over them and picked up the hunting rifle which had been turned into an true sniper rifle. After taking what they can carry they headed out. Courier did take note of an radio channel being broadcasted not far from the southern end of the ruined town planning to check it out later due to how it hadn't been there before. The two stopped in one of the houses to rest in for the night after they had to kill and Mr. Handy upon entering the building. Courier used the workbenches to clear their guns and fix them up from the wear and tear of use while Chrysalis who dropped her disguise with no one else to see did the same for her sword. While they were working Chrysalis took a small look him at the before turning back to her blade as she thought about her travel partner. 'He's not most people I'll give him that, after all most wouldn't just fight in those odds that we did without reason even if we don't know why. Plus he's a great and skilled warrior. Wouldn't be a bad mate' She considered till she saw where her thoughts were taking her and blushed lightly hopping he wouldn't notice. 'What am I'm thinking? Besides I doubt he would like me the same way. I'm not human nor am I something to look at for him' She thought was she put her weapon away. Courier noticed that. "You can have the bed I'll take the couch Chrysalis. Good night." He tells her. She nods to him and turned in for the night. 'She may not be human but damn she has fine looks.' He thought to himself before his line of thought caught up to him making him blush as he turned around. 'Why did I think of that?' He pondered to himself as he finished up his new weapon before turning in for the night.