Joshua Grimm, Hero of the war between the NCR and Caesar's legion, a veteran Ranger and now a broken man, as the Mojave is once again threatened. The legion is once again risen from its ashes of its near destruction nearly fourteen years ago to become more of a threat. Now Joshua Grimm is faced with the legion again and the man he thought dead has mysteriously returned brining a new legion with him, one of better men and better technology. He must use the backing of the mysterious ruler of the New Vegas Strip, Jason Jaggers, the NCR and the Brotherhood of Steel to hunt down his old nemesis and reap his revenge on the legion but the legion and its leader are only the beginning of a threat to the entire wasteland from the shores of California, to the capitolwastes, to the Erie straights and the Orleans Buoys a darker enemy emerges…
The rain drove against the sides of the shack sounding like a hail of bullets, the thunder roared in the distance and lighting flashed across the sky. The dessert storm raged across the sky as the platoon of Caesars's legion stood outside the shack, their leader, Vulpus Caesar was dragging a tied up man out of the front door of the small domicile, and he threw him in a mud puddle. The man looked up, his short military cut hair dripping wet from the rain water, his naked torso was covered in mud but the NCR ranger emblem was still visible over heart. His rope bonds around his wrist compressed and the muddy water ran down his hands. He coughed up the water from his mouth and pulled his hips up closer to him. He got up on his knees and looked up at the leader of the raiders.
"You killed my father and destroyed my armies you son of bitch!" Vulpus said, his long blonde hair waved in the wind from the storm "now I will make you pay"
Two Caesar's legion troops where dragging a red-haired women between them as they came out from the shack, an infant was carried by one of the solders. The women had bright green eyes; her nightdress was becoming soaked from the cold rain. The baby was crying out, its sleep interrupted.
"Maria! Sarah!" The Ranger yelled out to his wife, Vulpus wheeled around and smashed an armored fist across his face. The Rangers face split open as a huge gash opened up from his temple to the left cheek, part of the armor on the metal gauntlet had sliced his eye open. The man screamed in pain, as he fell back into the mud. He once again rolled over and managed to get back to a kneeling position. His face was now beginning to bruise, the large gash seeped blood while the now wrecked eye leaked fluid. His face was now covered in mud and blood.
"Josh!" the women cried as she lunged against her captures to reach the man who she loved. Tears ran down her eyes, she finally broke from the hands of the legionnaires and landed in front of Josh.
"Im so sorry my love" Josh said to his wife.
"It's not your fault" she said. This caused Vulpus to laughs he grabbed Maria and threw her back to the legion troops.
"Pretty women you have yourself their filth, such a shame" Vulpus said as he motioned to some of the troops "At least shell look good up on her cross"
"No!" Josh screamed as the legionnaires brought over the giant wooden cross and placed it at the ground near her. The troops laid her out on the cross, she screamed incoherent curses at them but cried out in pain as her hands and feet where nailed into place. Josh screamed as she was lifted up and the cross was placed into the ground.
Vulpus motioned for the trooper holding the baby to come over. The leader of the legion took the small child and looked down at her. The little infant looked up at him with bright green eyes and brown hair.
"She has her mother's eyes" Vulpus handed the baby back to the trooper "she will make a fine centurion"
"Im going to fucking kill Vulpus!" Josh screamed at the legion leader. Vulpus got down close to Josh's face and grabbed his chin and made the ranger look up at him.
"You are in no position to make threats, Joshua Grimm" Sneered Vulpus. Josh lunged foreword at Vulpus and smashed his skull into the legion leaders face, breaking his nose. As Vulpus went flying back, rifle shots rang out and the legion trooper's heads exploded. Those that remained immediately returned fire against someone Josh couldn't see. The gunfire roared from the legionnaires SMG's and rifles. The noise of service rifles and two bolt actions added their music to the symphony of death that was the noise of the firefight. As the bullets flew past, Josh looked up to see Vulpus about to plunge a knife into Maria's gut
"No!" Josh yelled as he snapped awake, cold sweat dripping from him, he placed his head in his hand. He stepped out of the bed and placed his feet on the cold wooden floor of his room at the Atomic Wrangler and walked into the small connected bathroom and turned on the light. The sickly yellow light that emanated from the two-hundred and fifty year old glass cast shadows on the rangers face. The large, deep scar that crossed his face from his left temple, across his missing left eye and to his right cheek made his reflection look angry, the eye patch made him look like a hardened man and the dog tags around his neck told him what he was before he went off the deep end. He splashed cold water onto his face, and looked at his reflection again, his thick brown hair and rough beard made him give a half smile. That's not regulation he thought looking at his hair and beard. Scars crisscrossed his chest but the NCR Ranger logo was emblazoned on his chest in his flesh. A soft touch on the shoulder made him turn to see blonde haired women wrapped in a sheet looking up at him lovingly. She had bright sky blue eyes, a curvy body and came up to his chest.
"Are you okay Josh?" She asked touching his face with her soft palm, he closed his eyes at the touch "What battle was it?"
"All of them" Josh said. He opened his eyes and looked at the women who he had found solace in.
"I love those eyes" Josh said as h gazed into Jess's bright blue eyes.
"And I love your eye" She said in a joking why trying to make the atmosphere lighter.
"And that sense of humor" Josh said.
"What was it about?" Jess inquired the former ranger.
"My wife" Josh said and looked down at the floor his eyes downcast.
"I take it wasn't a happy one" Jess said. Josh walked from the small bathroom and sat on the bed. She sat next to him and brought his head to her lap.
"If you don't want to tell me, if you don't want" Jess said as she looked down at the thirty six year old hardened ranger who was now silently crying in her lap. "You don't need to bear your burdens alone"
"Its not a burden I can share" Josh straightened up and laid back down bringing her down next to him and pulled her in close.
Jess may be an "escort" at the Wrangler but she found safety in Josh's arms and he found peace in hers. To say they were in love may be accurate but nether would say it since the lost many people that they loved. The two quickly fell back asleep peacefully asleep in their sanctuary from the horrors of their past and the wasteland just out the door of their room.
Jason Jaggers Stood near the large window of the lucky thirty eight casinos and looked out across the strip and the wasteland. He took a draw on the large cigar in his hand and tapped the ashes off into the ashtray built into the arm of the chair he was sitting in. his icy blue eyes where cold and calculating as he sat deep in thought. A securitron robot rolled up and the self made ruler of the strip looked at it. The screen in the center went to a video feed from one of the agent's pip-boys. The face of a young black man was seen on the screen. He wore combat armor that was black in color and had night vision goggles over his eyes, from the back ground Jason could see he was in a small cave.
"Jason this is agent Johnson" The man said "I have some bad news, the legion is returning. I don't know how or where they got the tech they have now but this is huge. From what I have gathered they made a nation. Their available tech rivals the brotherhood"
"This is trouble sum, but who leads them?" Jason asked the agent.
"Vul…" Johnson started to say before his head was suddenly blown out of the screen, the camera moved on his wrist and look up at a dark sky.
"Well this is not good" Jason said and the video cut off "Yes-Man get me Camp McCarran on the radio now, we got a major problem"
The ruler stood from his chair and got closer to the window and looked out at the horizon, his mind raced as he thought of what he had just learned.
Josh woke the next morning; he looked up to see Jess getting dressed. He smiled a rare thing for him to do. She looked at him and placed her hands on her curvy hips. She smiled down at him, a twinkle in her sky blue eyes.
"Get up Josh, its nine in the morning" Jess said pulling a shirt over her head "You need to go find a job today"
'Why? I got caps to spare from my ranger days, and those from the mercenary work im fine' Josh said as he shrugged "and I keep busy fixing weapons at Jacks shop"
"You need a real job, besides killing for money is wrong and you could start your own business" Jess said. Josh groaned as he flopped back down on the bed.
"This again Jess?" He said.
"Yes, you are already scared from all the lives you have taken you don't need to add to it more, besides we could open a restaurant together" She said. She grabbed the door handle and yanked it open "Now get up trooper" Josh moaned as he got out form the sheets and placed his feet onto the floor. He pulled on his pants and grabbed the white shirt from the ground and pulled it on. He pulled on his large, black combat boots and put his black avatar glasses on. He strapped the holster for his revolver on to his belt and placed the massive hunting revolver in its holster. This particular weapon was an unscoped hunting revolver and an extra long barrel. He walked out of the room and down the stairs till he came to the bar at the front of the atomic wrangler and sat on one of the stools.
"What will it be Reaper?" Stephan Garret asked him.
"A Gecko egg omelet and some water" Josh said answering to the nickname that the wasteland and other mercenaries had unofficially bestowed on him.
"Comin right up" Stephan said and walked back into the kitchen. The other Garret child, Jack sat down next to him.
"Morning Reaper"
"Jack"
"There where some men looking for you here last night" Jack said as he took of his brown cowboy hat off and placed it on to the counter.
"Good or bad?" Reaper asked the young man.
"They didn't have a job so I told him what you told me to tell them. They were defiantly looking for you in a bad way"
"What did they look like?" Josh asked.
"There where three, one was tall, thin, brown hair wore black combat armor and has a bandana on his head. The second was shorter but definitely was part of the great khans had that look and the last one was a medium sized man, metal armor. They had revolvers and assault carbines. I would say bounty hunters"
"Well, ill look into it then"
"Figured you would say that but you know that if you kill them it means we got to breakout the shovel again or throw them in a dumpster and burn them" Jack grabbed his hat and placed a leather gloved hand on Josh's shoulder.
"Ill see you at the shop later, be careful out there bud" Jack said walking out the front door. A plate was placed into Josh's vision, on it were his omelets.
"Thanks" the ranger said placing the caps on the counter and dug into his breakfast.
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