Open Treasures of the Old World (A Fallout RP)

Jessica had stayed behind Vex as was ordered and he was able to shield her against the dust and rocks of the grenade explosion. She hunkered down against the rock wall that made up the outside of the cave and clutched her laser rifle again. This time though her grip wasn't as tight and she was ready to fire if anyone flanked Vex. She heard the steady drone of his marksmen carbine and the banter of a couple of gangers that somehow made it outside. Jessica knew from school that the Powder Gangers hated the NCR and most were escaped convicts and criminals from the NCR Correctional Facility. They were used as labor for the rail lines and were given dynamite to blast through mountains, then ended up using that very dynamite to help them escape. Now they were recruiting anyone who hates the NCR or just likes to kill people. They spat in the face of everything the Brotherhood tried to do and Jessica decided she hated them for it.

A grenade hit so close that it blasted Vex off his feet. His face was covered in dirt and bits of rock but there was no blood. He was clearly dazed, probably only hearing ringing in his ears. Jessica wasted no time in getting out a sterile pad from her medkit and wiping down Vex's face. She helped him up into a sitting position and stood over him, taking care of him and reassuring him that it was okay.

"You're okay Vex!" She shouted so he could hear. "You're just fine! Everything's right where it should be!"

A shot rang out and the deafening machine gun stopped firing. Smoke from her sniper rifle showed that Kenzi had taken the shot. Now she was running up to where they were. Jed tried to talk her down, to tell her it was dangerous, but she wasn't listening. She wanted to be with Vex. She needed to be with him. Jessica got up and stood in front of Kenzi.

"Kenzi! Stop! It's okay! Vex isn't hurt, he's just dazed!"

A strained grunt told her that Stella was hurt. She had finally found that piece of steel in her leg.

"Stay with him! Stella's hurt! I've got to help her!"

Jessica ran over to Stella, unable to afford a glance back. She ran right past the mouth of the cave but it was now silent. The whole battlefield had gone silent. If everyone wasn't so worked up they would notice this. It appeared all the gangers were dead.

"Hold on Stella! Just stay down and get on your stomach! You're gonna be fine!" Jessica knew exactly how to treat Stella's wound. Forcips, alcohol swab, med-x, stimpack, gauze. Everything was done in under a minute and she felt badass for it.

"Thanks Jess." Stella said, sighing with relief. "You're one hell of a field medic. Who would've thought?"

"Thanks Kenzi. Hey, no one's shooting anymore. Does that...does that mean it's over? D-did we win?"

"Yeah hon, we won." Stella said, smiling at the girl and giving her a pat on the head. Jessica smiled up at the taller woman.

"We're all clear!" Jed hollered. "Let's move into the cave and see if there's anyone still alive." He moved in with Daryl, Merle and Andrea and found a T hallway at the end of the passage they entered. Two prisoners in rags and a giant of a man in recon armor stood to greet them. "Howdy folks. We got here as fast as we could but those gangers didn't make it easy. How many of ya'll are there?"

Merle snickered at Jed's threat, but respected his take no pl*ps attitude. The Dixon brothers kept their hands off each other and pushed on. The wounded were checked, everyone reloaded, it was time to press forward. Then bullets went off in the cave, causing everyone to get into unplanned yet organized formation. Andrea backed up Stella while Daryl and Merle backed Jed.

Ricky rushed into the cave, setting off a trap. The sound of grenades landing on the ground sprung out and Daryl knew Ricky was a goner, only the grenades began rolling down the hill. "This is gonna suck." Merle said, throwing his arms up to block the dust that blew up and obscured their view. "I'm okay Kenz." Andrea said, in response to Kenzi. Bits of rock had flown out and given the survivors cuts on what they used to shield their face, namely their arms. "Son of a bitch!" Daryl yelled as one particularly sharp rock cut the back of his hand. Before the dirt, dust and rock has settled the group kicked back into gear.

Daryl took cover beside the old man who had put him in line earlier, Jed, while firing off well aimed shots in between slow reloads. Merle provided suppressing fire for Jed and Daryl with his light machine gun. This battle was less exhausting for the Dixon brothers, but perhaps more so on the other end of the group. "I can't get a shot from here, I'm moving forward." Daryl said, as he got low and crept up the hill. He glanced over to see Vex take down a ganger, and as he looked forward the butt of a rifle smashed into his face. Daryl got thrown onto his back and the powder ganger took full advantage of the situation, putting a foot on Daryl's chest and aiming a service rifle in his face. Daryl immediately jerked right and grabbed the rife, pulling it towards the ground, the gun fired and hit the dirt between Daryl's arm and body.

Once the gun hit the ground, Daryl rolled left, causing the ganger to stumble. He was then shot by Jed. Daryl gave the old man a nod and picked up his crossbow. Meanwhile Merle had gotten out his sniper rifle and was singling out and picking off individual powder gangers at a time. He chose a target, waited for an opportunity, then executed them.

Soon enough the final of the powder gangers were killed, leaving the stretch of land between them and the cave a bloody mess. There were bullet filled bodies, crossbow bolts sticking out of heads and chests like porcupines, pools of blood. It was ugly, but they endured. Jed, Daryl, Merle and Andrea swept through the cave to find survivors. Possibly prisoners. They reached a T hallway at the end of the passage along with two prisoners in rags and a big man in recon armour. Jed was the one to greet them.

"Howdy folks. We got here as fast as we could but those gangers didn't make it easy. How many of ya'll are there?"

Daryl lowered his crossbow, and scanned the man in recon armour. He didn't look panicked, unlike the other two, and was likely the one who initiated this rescue. Merle made the same observation. "I'm guessing the man in the tinfoil is the one that started this mess?" He said, looking the man dead in the face. "Shut up Merle, he'd probably kick your ass." Andrea cleared her throat loudly to end their banter, preventing any further arguments. "We're part of a caravan, this is our boss." She said, gesturing to Jed, she had her pistol in her right hand and was standing on the right of Merle who was to the right of Daryl.

After a number of more explosions and gunfiring, the cacophony came to an end and all was relatively silent. Carsten and the remainder of his rag-tag group stood standing when an older man came up to them along with 2 other men and a woman, being a bit foolish considering the three of them were all armed and they did not know each other in any way.

"Howdy folks. We got here as fast as we could but those gangers didn't make it easy. How many of ya'll are there?"

"A few more to my left, maybe. Or maybe they already died like their cowardly behavior would cause soon enough regardless of their fate."

"I'm guessing the man in the tinfoil is the one that started this mess?"

"Shut up Merle, he'd probably kick your ass."

Carsten looked the man in his eyes and knew he would not pose too much of a threat. He would only ever want to try to fight him one vs. one and would lead up with yelling and such, leaving Carsten plenty of time to prepare. He wasn't all too worried.

"We're part of a caravan, this is our boss."

"Well, if you're open for anymore, my planner's pretty much open. Being abducted and tortured always throws a wrench in plans."

"If it's all the same to you", the two prisoners Carsten had fought with said, "we'll be going our separate ways. Thanks for freeing us though."

And just like that, the two men simply walked away from the scene.

"finally it's fluffing over" John said holstering his revolver as he took off his hat and brushed some dirt off of it and then putting it back on before he pulled out a match and a cigarette *being about 5 hours since I had my last one* he thought as he struck the match against the cave wall causing to light up before he then light the cigarette "hmm hello Mr Tobacco" he said as he inspected the .50 and saw something carved on the outside of it's chamber "Sasha? HM an unique name for a gun, I think I'll keep you" he said to the .50 resting his hand on the middle part of the gun.

"Vex! Are you okay? Were you hit? I saw an explosion, then I managed to pick off three of the fl*ffers including the machine gunner," She gently picked him up and allowed him to patch up his arm and check the bodies around him. Vex went towards the body of the man who threw the grenade at him and picked the ammo, and something for a trophy. Usually not one to do that, but he did it as if it were a final insult. "Kenz, I'm fine, really. Jessica patched up what I didn't fix already. You know I can't be killed that easy. They were using service rifles and other equipment, the bastards. At least I'll have spare parts and ammo," the duo scavenged the bodies around them, then moved up into the cave to secure the rest of it, even ignoring the giant tin man. As they went deeper, they could hear faint echoing, almost like crying. Why was there crying in a cave like this? They had no idea, but they were going to find out. Vex pulled out his 45. while Kenzi pulled out her 9mm and continued forward. For what seemed like an hour they keep on walking, only hearing their footsteps and the approaching infantile sobs.

Her stomach was shot open, her throat slit, and her child drenched in blood and still in her arms.
"Oh my god, Joe. We need to tell Jed right now,"
"Agreed. You get him, I'll stay with the kid," The two split, and Kenzi rushed to the others, with now an urgent matter on their hands.

"Jed! You gotta come see this! I'll lead you to what Vex and I found. Follow me and I'll take you there!" How in the hell were they going to provide for this child when they're having a tough time themselves? Why couldn't this get any easier for them? Whatever the outcome may be, they had to take it and care for it. It's the right thing to do.

"Hold on! Wait a second! Do you two need any help?" Jessica yelled after the two wastelanders who simply walked out of the cave.

"Nah, we're good! Thanks though!" One yelled. "Yeah, the road'll take us home!" The other added, both of them fading out of the mouth of the cave and into the light of day.

"Uhhh...see you later?" Jessica was thoroughly confused. How could two men who were held prisoner by Powder Gangers for who knows how long just get up and leave like that? If she were in their position she'd probably be curled up in a traumatized little ball for a week. She might end up like that anyway after what she'd seen today but she was too excited for that right now. Being shot at while safe in cover, treating life-threatening injuries, running and breathing so hard her tongue was bone dry. She felt like she had lived more in the last twenty minutes than in her entire life. The she noticed the one prisoner remaining. A giant of a man in a suit of recon armor just like hers. She immediately wondered where he got it and the fact that he was wielding a huge machete and was covered in blood made her worry. He looked very intimidating and Jessica was instantly afraid of him. Jed seemed just fine though and smiled when he offered to join the group, joking that being captured and tortured really threw a monkey wrench in your plans. THAT was putting it lightly.

"Well you can certainly handle yourself and the fact that you haven't skedaddled means you're interested in stickin' around." He looked the man over for a moment and nodded his head. "Welcome aboard partner. Name's...."

"Jed! You gotta come see this! I'll lead you to what Vex and I found. Follow me and I'll take you there!" Kenzi said, barging into their intersection between the cave corridors. She was pale as a sheet and shaking, as if she'd just seen something horrible. "Kenzi? What'd you find? What's wrong? You look live you've seen a ghost!" Jed said with concern. Something was very wrong so he wasted no time following Kenzi. "Jessica! Come with us and bring your medkit! You two partner! You know these caves better than we do!"

Kenzi led them down a long corridor to their left. They passed by several rooms of haphazard construction, size and means of entry until they came to a bend to the right that led to the end of the corridor. A room sealed off by prison bars and padlocked bar door that had been forced open. The door was on one hinge and the lock looked like it had been shot off.

"Kenzi, what's wrong? Did you and Vex break this door down? You shouldn't have done that. You could have endangered other..." Jessica saw the scene before her and turned from her usual cream color to a milk white "...prisoners." She breathed the last word, shocked at what she was seeing.

"Sweet mother of mercy." Jed said, just as shocked. He had seen plenty of terrible things in his travels but nothing quite as horrible as this. Vex was just as shocked and everyone looked to each other about what to do.

while John was busy packing up the machine gun Kenzi suddenly rushed back down the tunnel "Jed! You gotta come see this! I'll lead you to what Vex and I found. Follow me and I'll take you there!" Kenzi said who seemed a little stressed out "Kenzi? What'd you find? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Jed said turning to Jess "Jessica! Come with us and bring your medkit! You too partner! You know these caves better than we do!" he said to the two as they rushed off. now John was concerned *Something's wrong* he thought as he followed them as best he could as they were running, when suddenly they stopped outside of a broken door pale as clean, white sheets.

Approaching them "Guys.....what's wrong?" he said moving himself to see what the others were looking like and when he did, "Sweet Jesus H. Christ." as his mouth dropped open as his cigarette fell out and despite there being a crying baby John swore he could hear nothing but that cigarette hit the ground. he turned away from the doorway placing his left hand on the cave wall and his other hand over his mouth *it's been a long time since I've seen something like this at least not since I was last in Washington* he thought accidently remembering the things he saw there.

As the trio followed the group they were relatively silent, until Andrea, who was slightly ahead of the brothers, gave a startled gasp. "Holy pl*ps...." Daryl and Merle said in sync. A young child crying over it's mothers dead body, drenched in the blood of it's birth giver. Daryl took the initiative to pick the crying child up, holding it in his arms using his shirt to try and wipe some of the blood off. He stood over the corpse unsure what to do, he looked to the group for direction but they all seemed equally as shocked and lost. Vex had stayed with the child, so Daryl looked to Vex for guidance. It was clear Daryl had just as many questions as everyone else regarding the fate of the child.

Andrea stepped forward and spoke up. "We need to head back. It's only going to get worse, this child needs a proper home."

"And you think it can have that in the slums under the bridge?"

"Oh and you've got a better idea Daryl?"

"No but at least I ain't pitchin in stupid ideas like that."

"Ladies ladies..." Merle said, soothing the situation. "We can't leave it here, it'd be morally bankrupt. But we have no where to take it." He said, presenting the situation. "Jed, it's on you bud. What do we do?"

"Coming from you that's funny. Sad to say I agree."

"It would be tragic to leave it here, but where would we find food? What if it cries and lures god knows what to us? There's things a lot scarier than jet ridden fiends or raiders. Not to mention we're going into the vault."

"We can travel back in town and drop it off at a med clinic. They can treat it and try to find a home. Jed? Jessica? Stella? What do you think?"

Both Vex and Kenzi sat while the group discussed what would happen to their new "package". Kenzi scratched the rocks and matted dirt out of her hair while Vex eyed over his wounds. He would much rather be morally bankrupt than mortally bankrupt. As sad as it is, he saw both sides, and could swing either way. Good thing it wasn't just him;Not to mention he was already indecisive. The group made it this far, but not without injuries; Ricky tripped a grenade bundle, thus springing the ambush, Vex suffered a shot arm, shell shock and nearly had three pieces of shrapnel lodged in his leg, Stella's leg is still causing her to limp. Not exactly a special ops group.

Terrible to think that a mother and child were dragged here, and for no reason too. The babe already saw it's mother die, so why would they leave it? He frustratingly scratched the back of his neck while looking at Kenzi, "pl*ps luck, right?" His partner simply sighed and nodded in agreement.

(OOC: By the way Wolfbane, Alice isn't in this RP. I think you meant Jessica lol.)

Jessica was shocked that they were even considering leaving this baby behind. This adorable little baby that was covered in his mother's blood and couldn't be more than six months old. The poor thing couldn't even eat solid food yet and Vex was thinking about leaving without it? That was completely unacceptable. Jessica looked at Vex with a horrified expression.

"How can you even consider that? You, an NCR Ranger, would really leave this baby, this newborn baby, behind? You might as well shoot it in the head for all the good it'll do! How dare you even consider such an option!? We are going to take this child with us and do anything...ANYTHING...we have to in order to ensure that he has a home and someone to take care of him!"

Jed, Stella and Ricky were all taken aback by how decisive and passionate Jessica had become. It was a complete flipside to the pale, nervous little girl they had met this morning. Jessica removed her recon armor's hood and gloves to make herself, and the baby, more comfortable. She put them aside and pulled out her long red hair out from inside her suit, letting it fall over her upper back where a large connection port for power armor was. Despite what she believed she was quite beautiful when her hair was down like this. She walked over and gestutes for Daryl to hand her the baby. Having no better ideas, Daryl did so and Jessica cradled the little thing, wiping him up as best she could with an old and holy but clean bath towel. Much better than Daryl's now-bloody shirt. The baby immediately started to cry after being hoisted from the strange man who had taken him from his mother and being wiped down by this strange woman but Jessica did her work through the tears. Once the baby was wrapped in another clean towel she took the baby in her arms and held her close.

"Shhhh...shhhh...It's alright." She whispered. "It's alright, you're safe now. We're gonna take you out of here and take good care of you. Nobody's gonna hurt you while I'm here and I promise I'll never put you down." The baby quieted down as Jessica rocked him in her arms and stroked his fuzzy head. She couldn't help but smile from the experience. She turned back to the group with a glowing expression she couldn't hide if she wanted to.

"See? All he needs is a little love and he's a little sweetheart. I...don't suppose anyone knows how to breastfeed? This little angel can't exactly eat Salisbury steak."

"Sorry kiddo." Stella said. "Never quite got that far in my life. Kenzi? Andrea? Don't suppose either of you's got a teat to spare?"

"Guess we'll hafta figure somethin' else out." Jed said. "It'll have to be later though. We've gotta clear the rest of this cave and salvage the gear we can." He looked to Carsten. "You know this place better than we do partner. Mind showin' us where these gangers store their gear? Also if you wanna...well...pay respects to any of these folks, bury em' or say a few words or whatnot, we'll help ya how we can. I'm sure you gotta know a few of 'em. We'll be stayin' here tonight so it doesn't matter either way."

Jed was about to do something else but then remembered he didn't actually know who this newcomer was. "Now that I'm thinkin' about it I never got your name. Care to tell us who you are?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you regardless." Jessica said, the baby having been rocked to sleep. "And...if you don't mind me asking...where'd you get that Recon Armor? I'm not sure if you know the...people who use that armor the most but they're rather protective of it. Especially considering their...newest members wear it, like me."

Mord had remained silent through the experience, taken aback by all that had happened in the last few moments. The prisoners turning the tide of battle, the baby now nestled in the little doctor's arms...

It was all becoming overwhelming, and it made him speechless, to say the least.

His mind flashed back to a time before. To a battle that he had fought long ago. The explosions and gunfire all triggered old memories of his time in the Brothrhood, as it mostly had his whole life since he left.

But this memory in particular...

He shook his head, ghosts of his past rising up in his mind, showing faces of those he wished he had never met, as the pain of losing them had been the sole reasoning he had become a drunken repairman in the first place. Keep it together, Mord...if she saw you like this...you'd never live it down.

He looked to the newcomer, the man soon taking his mind away from the pains of his past. He was surprised they would bring in someone this fresh to the scene this quickly. His recon armor already made Mordecai suspicious, but his blood soaked appearance and his way around a machete wasn't exactly helping either.

He was, however, kinda pleased that they would be camping here for the night, as the battle had taken a lot out of him, as he was slowly becoming aware of as the adrenaline wore off. He felt like he needed to do something, however. He felt idle, and that meant he felt useless.

Nothing pissed him off more than having nothing to do but think.

He looked to Jed, speaking up. "I'll get to work on the salvaging, but we should probably get the rest of the caravan in a safe spot first, so we don't draw any more unwanted attention. Got enough bulletholes in my coat today." He looked to Ricky, who he was wanting to speak to after he had watched him fight. "Boy, gonna need your help on this one. May not be old yet, but I'm starting to feel it after that."

Daryl gave Vex a murderous look that could kill a behemoth as he even suggested considering leaving the baby to it's fate, that would never happen. This was reinforced when Jessica lost her pl*ps before Daryl could, before silently requesting for the baby that lay frightened in his arms. He carefully handed the little boy over, relieved someone stood on the same side as he did.

Merle understood Vex loud and clear. He has done a lot of things even he is not proud of to have survived to this day, and leaving people behind is included in that bundle. But he would do it all again, because he's still alive and so is his little brother. But this time he didn't want to add to that list and so this baby had to survive and if it didn't, it wouldn't be their fault. In all he can, he will take care of that child from afar until it is out of their care.

Andrea, being one of the 5 women in the group, felt filled with hope for the child. They found the poor thing before it was too late, and that's got to count for something. With five women, one of us has got to have motherly instinct, right? It looked like it was Jess. Mord, along with Ricky, left to scavenge, and no one was speaking up until Merle opened his mouth.

"If none of you have been knocked up then I guess we've got to improvise." Merle said, looking at the ladies in the vicinity. Andrea gave Merle a curious look, Merle improvising couldn't end up well. "I just happen to know that even when a girl hasn't given birth, baby saliva on her lil nipples could cause her to start lactating. I know my stuff."

Andrea wasn't convinced, and it didn't look like anyone else was either, so Daryl stepped into the hot seat. "Yeah, I was there, a follower told us. She didn't sound too sure though, made it sound like it didn't happen every time. But she's seen it work a few times, or at least that's what she told us."

"Now before anyone busts out a breast, I think the older ladies should give it a try." Merle said. "Jess sweetheart, I don't think your body' would be developed enough." Merle wasn't trying to insinuate anything insulting, he just thought she was too young. Even though women her age can have babies, it didn't mean they could feed them without having them first.

"Stella," Andrea said, "why don't you give it try? I'll try after you, if it doesn't work. Give it 15 minutes at least.. Then Kenzi, if you wouldn't mind, you should try after that." Andrea could hardly believe she was going along with Merles scheme, but when she looked at the baby she could tell it didn't have long before it grew hungry. It could even be hungry already.

"These lil critters are suppose to fed like what, every few hours?" Merle said, looking at his brother. "Every two hours." Daryl chipped back. Andrea was bewildered at the brothers knowledge on the topic, it looked like even they believed themselves. "What'd ya take a child care class or something?" She asked them. Merle smirked. "We had a few run ins with the followers, I made sure I soaked up all the information I could. I already am an expert but you never know when the stuff will come in handy." Merle gave off the sense that he was proud of himself, and he was. If his idea saved this baby he'd have these people wrapped around his pinky finger.

"I'm gonna go check that this place is secure, and that we wont get any surprises from fiends or whatever else." Daryl said, getting ready to check the place out. He knew they were attacked by gangers, but he saw them all as fiends. "Merle, you stay here and do what you're being paid to do." Merle smirked. "Bossy today." And Daryl disappeared off down the hall.

"Jess, watch yourself. I've done more that I regret than you can even imagine. I think the brotherhood hasn't taught you that. I would do anything to keep the ones I care about alive. You're right, I'm a Ranger, and Rangers are suppose to do the unthinkable to protect their squad. So don't pass judgement on me until you've heard the things I have done to help my people. If I had to now, I would. Why don't all of you figure this out. I'll be looking for anything else of interest," He decided to scout out the rest of the cave while the group discussed it without him.

"Sounds fine. I need to help Vex before he hurts himself more than he already is. Hopefully we can save it and not waste time.," She then carefully spoke into Jess's ear, "The call of life is the hardest to make. You should understand some of that. Learn both sides kiddo," She then went after vex, catching up with him once he sat down to rest for a bit.

"Remember that time in Redding where we were stationed to over look a choke point? I told you about when I had to put an animal out of it's misery in the wasteland."

"Yeah. I remember toying with my scope,"

"It was one of the hardest things to do in my life. It was suffering, but it was also drawing attention."

"You don't have to lose your humanity. While it does make us a bigger target, stretch resources, and its annoying as pl*ps, it's also a child. It's a hard thing to do. It's a child, not some coyote. You don't have to explain it to me, I understand, and I'll side with you. But you have to see what most of them think about this. The wasteland is hard enough. Look, let's go back and see where the group stands, I'll help you up,"

Jessica said nothing to Vex or Kenzi. She was warm with embarrassment and more than a little afraid of Vex. She had been taught her whole life that the Rangers were the best the NCR had to offer because they were willing to do anything to win. If a few innocents had to be sacrificed or outright killed to save others or to complete a critical objective than they would do so. Brotherhood Paladins were the same way. The mission they were on always came first and everything else, even their comrades' lives, came second. They worked long and hard to save and protect anyone who was with them, like the Rangers, but they were ready to make a sacrifice if they had to. It was a terrible line to walk and Jessica had never really understood that until now, when she was right in the middle of the terrible moral choices people like Vex and Kenzi were expected to make every day. Any notion of romance or glory Jessica had with the rangers was now lost. It made her feel sad and hollow.

The baby in her arms brought her back to reality. He was getting fussy and she guessed he was hungry. Daryl's theory on women spontaneously lactating when trying to feed a baby was correct, as was Merle's on Jessica not being quite developed enough. She was sixteen and right in the middle of the maelstrom of shifting hormones that was a teenage girl. Yes she was old enough to get pregnant but not to lactate without doing so. It made her sad, not being able to feed this baby that she instinctively felt responsible for. She didn't want to give him up. The large prisoner, Carsten his name was, interrupted her when he said his armor was a gift from the NCR and none of their people seemed to mind him wearing it. Considering it was the uniform of Brotherhood of Steel Initiates that made no sense.

"I'm not sure how that could be so. Recon armor is rare outside the Brotherhood of Steel and everyone I've met associates the armor with that group. I have my armor and gear because I'm a scribe from the Brotherhood's Mojave chapter. I'm telling you this because most here know already and I'm very surprised no one from the NCR associated you with the Brotherhood. They...we...have a bad history with the NCR, even if things have started to look up in the last couple of years." The baby was starting to cry now, clearly hungry. "Stella, I think you're up."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Stella said, less than confidant about this plan but trusting her companions. She took off her leather coat and white T-shirt underneath, revealing her bra-contained cleavage and rather attractive body. One she undid her bra, not bothering with modesty, she figured she was ready. "Well...here goes nothin'." Jessica handed the baby over to Stella and she took him over to a chair to sit down on. "Alright little fella. It's lunchtime."

She held the baby close to her chest and gently cradled his head so he could grab her left breast. He knew exactly what to do and bit down hard on it and started sucking. Stella yelped in pain and at first felt extremely embarrassed but that quickly passed. It was strange. She had never held a baby in her life, let alone let one suck her tits but it somehow felt...right. Natural. Even good. He kept sucking and she gave a startled breath as a sudden flowing sensation came out of her breast, cold and damp. Several uncomfortable breaths passed but she realized she had done it. She was really feeding this baby with nothing but her breasts and the milk now flowing from them. All Stella could do was smile up at the group and down at the little baby, a few tears rolling down her face.

"I'm not sure how that could be so. Recon armor is rare outside the Brotherhood of Steel and everyone I've met associates the armor with that group. I have my armor and gear because I'm a scribe from the Brotherhood's Mojave chapter. I'm telling you this because most here know already and I'm very surprised no one from the NCR associated you with the Brotherhood. They...we...have a bad history with the NCR, even if things have started to look up in the last couple of years." The girl Jen responded.

Suddenly the baby was passed around to a woman named Stella for her to try breastfeeding. To Carsten's great surprise, it appeared to actually work. He almost couldn't believe it. Apparently, the girl couldn't either, for she was crying.

"Well, if you studied your history properly, you know about the NCR attack on Helios One. The Brotherhood was determined not to give up the facility so when they finally retreated they left behind a large amount of supply. They got rid of all the important stuff, sure, but stuff like this armor which isn't too significant was left behind. I'm not sure how large the supply of this is, but the thing is, this armor is considered useless to the NCR. I don't know why, I reckon its because they use all that standard issue Ranger Armor and stuff like this can't be made so easily. And why the NCR doesn't mess with me, I guess its because they assume Brotherhood members would be dressed up in full-on power armor. Or maybe", he looked at stains of blood over his body which mostly did not belong to him, "they know better."

after getting himself together John thought he needed something to take his mind off things when he heard "I'll get to work on the salvaging, but we should probably get the rest of the caravan in a safe spot first, so we don't draw any more unwanted attention. Got enough bulletholes in my coat today." Mord said as he looked to Ricky, who was sat down staring off into space with a very blank look on him "Boy, gonna need your help on this one. May not be old yet, but I'm starting to feel it after that." he said but Ricky didn't responded to which John moved closer and waved his hand in Ricky's face "Ricky?" he said to him but he didn't responded. John then walked over to Mord "He can't hear you or me, I think since the firefight ended the adrenaline rush he had early has finally worn off and his brain is probably processing that he's just survived his first firefight. here I'll help you salvage stuff" he said offering his services.

Mordecai took another look at Ricky, nodding back to John. "I suppose you're right boy. Kid's still shaken, and I don't blame him." He moved off, patting Ricky on the shoulder. He spoke, not sure if he could hear him.

"You did good work out there boy. keep it up." He moved off for John, making his way to the caravan first and foremost. "We'll need to get the caravan out of sight before we can focus on salvage. We won't have enough time to search if more bandits see our cattle and think we're easy pickings." He made his way to front of the caravan, looking to John and nodding. "There's a good spot a little ways to the right of the entrance. It ought to keep them out of sight for a bit."

They started off for the cavern, snd Mord spoke up. He hadn't Gotten to really talk to John, aside from when the boy near died. He thought this would be a good time to figure the kid out.

"So John. While we're hoofing it here, was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me a bit about yourself. Gotta get to know my company, after all."

It wasn't like Mord to go out of his way to talk to strangers. Not lately, anyway. But he knew this would help out everyone.

Either that, or was it going to make it harder to lose them. Whichever came first.

Vex's cruel words, the stink of bodies around them, the terrible realization of what they had just done; all of that was forgotten as Jessica watched Stella suckle that little baby. It was pure joy watching her take care of him on the most basic level as if they were mother and child, and it was a huge relief knowing he wouldn't starve. Whatever the group decided to do, this baby would be left full and happy. Vex had gone off somewhere to brood and Kenzi had followed, likely to support him. John and Mordecai were off in another room salvaging the Powder Gangers' gear. Jed and Andrea were taking inventory of the supplies here in the prison room, Daryl and Merle said something about stepping outside for smokes and Ricky had found himself a dirty but welcome mattress. The poor guy was out like a light, a primed but unused inhaler of jet on the floor next to him. It seemed Daryl's words had taken effect. Something had stopped him from getting high even though he clearly wanted to. Jessica could only hope this moment of bravery was the first of many to come.

It seemed that everyone was taking a moment for themselves and Jessica wanted to join them. She stepped outside the prison room and into the corridor leading to the main hallway and the mouth of the cave. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to be somewhere quiet to process what had happened over the last hour. She had done things she had never thought possible and hoped she'd never do again. All of them were necessary but very few of them she liked. Just as she found a clean, empty room to herself the sounds of shouting outside made her alert once again.

Both Dixon brothers were on the ground with their hands bound by rope. Standing over them were five NCR rangers and a dozen NCR troopers. They immediately raised their weapons when they spotted Jessica.

"Stop right there!" A female ranger with hat, sunglasses, full patrol armor and a lever action rifle loaded with .357 rounds shouted. "Drop your weapons and walk outside. Slowly."

Jessica immediately dropped her laser rifle and plasma defender but started stammering an explanation. "Please! Please don't shoot us!" She panicked. "It's not what you...!"

"Shut the fl*ff up and get down on the ground!" A masked trooper shouted. Jessica screamed as loud as she could as he dragged her to the ground. He pinned her head to the dusty ground with hs food and put his rifle to her temple. She started crying. Merle's head was bleeding and he looked dazed. Daryl just looked pissed off. All three were on their bellies with their hands bound behidn their backs next to each other. "This is a Powder Ganger hideout and there's a lot of dead gangers out here. Real convenient that your friends here come out of that cave in front of all these bodies just as we get here to take them out. You know anything about this?"

"Please!" Jessica cried. "We're an expedition for Happy Trails Caravan Company! We're explorers! The gangers ambushed us and we had to kill them! We cleared out this cave, we didn't even know you were comming!"

"Bullplops." The trooper said. "There's over twenty gangers out here. No caravan could take them out. How do we know you're not gangers yourself and killed the caravan and change their uniforms, huh? How am I supposed to know that's not what happened?"

"Please...you have to believe me."

"I don't have to believe plops!"

"That's enough Toombs." The female ranger said. "There is supposed to be a caravan coming through here with two of our rangers. One of our outposts radioed ahead. Maybe this gir's part of that group. If she is, the rest of her friends'll come looking for her. We'll keep her here 'till then." The rest of the rangers did nothing to help them. They simply stayed behind cover and watched the door, weapons ready.

Vex sat down and watched the women nurse the baby, only thinking that it will be a lot harder to move and stay hidden with a child. Jess doesn't understand where he was coming from in regards to the child. In war, you have to do things that you normally wouldn't do in under any circumstances. As a Ranger you swear a oath not only to the service, but to your squad and friends. During his service up in the north, when Vex and Kenzi were ordered up to Washington, they had to track down a few rogue NCR troopers that were trying to defect into Washington and in fact join the Enclave;The NCR takes care of their own. They both understood what must be done.

The two dawned their Ranger armor, loaded their weapons, and made their way to the capital wasteland. The Mojave is vastly different than the Capital; the sand in the Mojave will not only blind you, but can suffocate you. Sandstorms can start and shroud the area around you in a orange and yellow wall as you try to push up to the outpost and wait it out. What's worse is that you don't know if there is a gun wielding raider on the other side ready to skill and loot your body. The sun now it more harmful than it ever was and over exposure could kill you from overexposure. Not to mention you get creatures that are only native to the Mojave. The days can get extremely hot and the nights extremely cold.

The capital wasteland has it's teeth elsewhere; the ruined skeleton of the buildings are home to raiders, slavers, and super mutants. Each crumbling level could be a potential perch for a sniper. Every move and sound can put you on edge. A simple store could be an ambush and every parking lot could be laced with traps. You could set up camp in a place like a store or on a high floor, which for a ranger, is a nice place to be. The weather is more accommodating. The armor of the Ranger was made for all terrain and weather.

Both Vex And Kenzi are some of the best trackers. All they needed was a last known position and a name. Most people will leave clues as to where they are headed next. As they arrived at the camp which was in a old suvenlour shop, they began to take note of certain clues; slightly warm fire, disturbances in the area out front, the smell of fresh waste, half eaten food cans along with crumbled up backs of smokes. One might ignore these as a sign of people from long ago, but not a ranger. A ranger knows when someone has been in a location. A ranger could even spot traps and make shift alarms like the ones in the shop they were in now. By the broken string and expelled shotgun shell, someone met an unfortunate end and caused their targets to move locations.

A few days later they found the deserters held up in an old nuka cola factory. Not a sound was heard that night. Not even a scream. The target gazed upon the red eyes of the Rangers, and knew what is meant. At the time, Vex had his helmet off, making it seem that his face was dawned with red eyes.

He was suddenly brought out of the memory by the sound of all to familiar voices.

"Please!" Jessica cried. "We're an expedition for Happy Trails Caravan Company! We're explorers! The gangers ambushed us and we had to kill them! We cleared out this cave, we didn't even know you were coming!"

"Bullpl***." The trooper said. "There's over twenty gangers out here. No caravan could take them out. How do we know you're not gangers yourself and killed the caravan and change their uniforms, huh? How am I supposed to know that's not what happened?"

"Please...you have to believe me."

"That's enough Toombs." The female ranger said. "There is supposed to be a caravan coming through here with two of our rangers. One of our outposts radioed ahead. Maybe this girl's part of that group. If she is, the rest of her friends'll come looking for her. We'll keep her here 'till then."

He cocked his 45. and pointed it at the all to familiar rangers, "Shut it Toombs and get that gun out of her face or you're going to be the one with a bullet in the head. You heard the captain. This girl is with me. Hurt her, and there'll be hell to pay. Ghost, you're looking good. It's been a while." he looked over and spotted the brothers face first in dirt, giving a chuckle as he waited for Jessica. "I suppose you can let the others go. Callsign Vex and Callsign Harvey. Do you need our numbers, captain?"

"That's not needed, Vex. Thank you. I assume you two had a hand in this? Let the girl up, Toombs. We found our rangers," Jessica got back up in a cloud of dust and wrapped her arms around Vex, who gritted his teeth after she squeezed, making his wound throb, "We were ambushed while on our way to our destination. Harvey is in the cave with the others."

'Drop the callsign, Joe. You're among friends. Looks like you were scratched a few times. Can't wait to hear that story." The captain smiled as she took her sunglasses off to see her fellow friend. Rangers were always tight, tends to happen in a small elite group like the Rangers.

"Kenzi, we have visitors." His voice bounce down the cave, relaying his message effectively.Moments after, Kenzi walked up, rifle drawn before a smile crept on her face when she saw Her fellow Rangers. She eventually rested her rifle behind her head and along her shoulders.

"Lookie here. Long time no see! I wish you didn't have to scare our poor girl,Ghost."she snarled once she realized that Toombs at his gun pointed to Jess's head. "Leave it you to stick your god damn gun in a poor girl's faced. You should've stayed home Toombs," she withdrew her knife and started playing with it before she changed the subject. "I see you have the Dixion brothers. You can keep Merle if you want, Daryl is standable for now. We had to wiped out these gangers after they surprised us. Hell of a fight. The rest of our group are in the cave behind us. You won't believe what we found," she pointed a scarred up thumb behind her

"Shoot. I don't think I'll ever be surprised now."

"We found a baby tangled up in her mothers guts. I guess we're looking after it,"

"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Ain't that a shocker. You do know it could draw attention you'll have to feed it? I'm not saying what you did wasn't the right move, but did anyone think about that?"

"We both did. Joe was even prepared to do the worst and end it if need be. The others didn't quite get the rationale, but they aren't Rangers. We have to make the terrible decisions if forced t. It's good to see you, Stella." Kenzi and Joe nodded in agreement as they greeted and hugged their Captain.

"It's good to see you guys," Captain Collins returned the hug before someone else joined "At first I was a little concerned about you two, but I realized you two are killing machines and how hard it was to kill us. Glad to see you two. I'm sorry for scaring you, Jessica."Ghost smiled before she exposed her warm eyes and hugged her squadmates and apologized.

For the second time today Vex and Kenzi being rangers had saved the caravan. This time from a shootout with an NCR platoon rather than a 100 cap shakedown by some dishonest recruits. They had also, for the second time today, done something Jessica couldn't believe and refused to accept. When the soldier who had pinned her to the ground, Toombs his name was, let her up was he reprimanded by his commanding officer? Was he punched in the mouth or otherwise punished? No. He was given a little ear-boxing by Kenzi. Nothing more. Then she and Vex started hugging the rangers and catching up with them as if this were a big happy reunion party. Jessica was just pulled to the ground, got her head stepped on by a hard boot, had a rifle aimed at her head when the boot was moved only to be pressed between her shoulder blades, verbally attacked, accused of being a powder ganger and threatened with being shot. And her attacker was able to go like nothing ever happened.

This was not acceptable.

"You're sorry for scaring me?!" Jessica yelled. Tears of fear were still rolling down her face even after she let go of Vex. "Do you honestly think that makes up for what Toombs just did to me!? He had me on the ground breathing nothing but dust with his boot pressing down upon my upper back so I couldn't get up and a gun to my head! He was itching to shoot me! Look at him! He doesn't care that the gangers are dead! He's here to shoot someone! Anyone! It doesn't matter who! He's an unstable maniac who has no business holding that gun! I guess the NCR is soooo biiiiig and soooooo complacent that they'll let fluffing anybody into the army! This is exactly the kind of self-destructive bullplops we try to stop in the Brotherhood!"

Then she realized her mistake. This was not New Vegas and the NCR and Brotherhood of Steel were not on friendly terms out here. And she had just told fifteen NCR soldiers that she was a member. Toombs was almost giddy with the news.

"Oh yeah!" He shrieked, a wild look in his eyes behind the goggles. "Now we're getting somewhere good! Thanks for letting us know you're the enemy Jessica! Now we've got all we need to kill you! Shouldn't have left your power armor at home little girl!" He raised his rifle and was ready to shoot Jessica.

"Put your weapon down Toombs!" Ghost shouted. "Put it down the fluff now!"

"Or what!?" He shouted, training his gun on her. "You're gonna shoot me!? The mighty, holier-than-thou ranger's gonna shoot a lowly trooper!? That'll be treason! You rangers are the best the NCR has but you're all a bunch of arrogant assholes who get all the glory for easy mission and knock back shots of whisky while us grunts do all the real work! In 2277 during Ceaser's attack on Hoover Dam the Rangers took credit for luring the Legion into Boulder City and then leveling it! But it was the troops who fought and died so they could get into position! In 2281 when Lanius hit the damn and Ceaer was DEAD, the troops fought and died while the "elite" rangers with their riot helmets and black coats sat back from a nice safe distance and did a little target shooting! When the Courier convinced Lanius to turn around and send the Legion back east did the Rangers chase after him? Did they kill that bastard? Did they bother to make OUR sacrifice mean something!? No! They just led that madman go to come on back to the Mojave whenever it's convenient for him! The Legion is still alive and well because the Rangers don't do their job! They're fluffing elitist pretenders just like the Brotherhood! And no! Helping us at Hoover Dam with barely a dozen men does NOT make it better! Hundreds of troopers died that day! Do you know how many rangers died!? SIX! SIX RANGERS! TWO BROTHERHOOD PALADANS! EVEN THE fluffING ENCLAVE SHOWED UP AND THEY DIDN'T LOSE ANYBODY! I WANT SOME fluffING PAYBACK!"

Toombs backed away from everyone and aimed his gun at Vex, Kenzi and Jessica. He was shaking so badly he couldn't aim straight but his training soon kicked in and he steadied himself. Jessica could clearly see that he was deeply troubled and unstable but was far too scared to move to help. He was ready to shoot anyone that so much as took a step. His fellows didn't know what to do and Captain Collins was shocked.