Two NCR soldiers walked slowly along a cracked and dusty road. It was far too hot and dry for them to keep up the parade-ground marching method they were taught at boot camp for long, and they had resorted to just tramping along like any other would, constantly taking sips from the canteens at their belts, their rifles held over their shoulders on straps, angled away from their bodies so the metal components of the weapons, heated by hours in the desert sun didn't come into contact and burn their skin. They were meant to be on patrol duty, but both of them knew that there were no fiends or raiders along this section of road; they were just being kept out of McCarran so the heat and the boredom didn't raise tempers high enough for any actual trouble to be started.
After the fabled Courier seemingly appeared out of no-where, utterly decimated the slave army of Caesar's Legion, and pretty much gave the New California Republic the Mojave Desert, New Vegas and all wrapped up in a nice bow, and then disappeared again, things had been going pretty easy. The fiend leaders had been killed off by the Courier, at times with help from the First Recon sniper unit, factions like the Brotherhood of Steel and the Boomers had been talked into grudging alliances, once again by the Courier, and Great Khans had disappeared from Red Rock Canyon, presumably during the Second Battle for Hoover Dam.
What this meant for the basic infantry of the NCR armed forces was; being stuck in an unforgivable desert, on useless patrols and guard duty, protecting important locations from 'possible threats', even though everyone knew that the people of the Mojave were suitably cowed after the NCR showed their strength a second time, and defeating Caesar's Legion for good. Despite the relative safety of the Mojave desert, places like Hoover Dam, Camp McCarran and Helios one were just too important to the Republic to just left unmanned, which meant that the colonisation campaign was reaching its fifteenth year, and both the soldiers and civilians of the NCR were getting sick of it.
Despite several attempts to vote the withdrawal of NCR soldiers from the Mojave, President Kimball seemed more determined than ever after his assassination attempt to take over and ultimately 'civilise' the wild desert. Such political and national concerns were not the main topic of conversation between Privates Benjamin 'Nuts' Wilsons and Freddy 'Bolts' Richards.
"Look B, all I'm saying is; a hooker is a hooker, and I got every right to buy her as you do, as is any guy in this whole fucking desert" Nuts threw his arms up to emphasise his point. Bolts, who had been staring at the ground angrily, rounded on his friend. "And what I'm saying, N is that if you're as good a friend as you claim you are, you wouldn't do that, and you would also discourage the other guys from even fucking thinking about buying time with Jasmine, because I also told you that I love her!" Nuts remained calm, and shook his head sadly, wiping sweat away from his forehead with the back of his sleeve. "A soldier falling in love with a whore, do you know how cliché that sounds?" "I don't care what you think Nuts, love is love. " Bolts huffed "I'm gonna get her outta Gomorrah, and then I'm gonna retire. We're gonna move back to New Reno, and we're gonna be happy together." Nuts barked out harsh laughter, and grabbed Bolts' shoulder, forcing him around and glaring into his eyes, suddenly as angry as his fellow soldier was. "Wilf, we've known each other since we were kids, you're my best friend. We've been through boot camp, the pacification campaign we managed to fight our way through two fucking battles with Caesar's Legion for fuck's sake. We got out of that alive, and I'm not gonna let you get yourself killed with this. You don't mess with the Omertas, man. You will get yourself killed if you mess with this girl." Bolts shoved Nuts away, and started walking away. After a few moments, he turned back around, and yelled at Nuts. "I don't give a fuck what you think, I told you I love he-"
"What a delightful conversation you folks are having"
The soldiers span around from their heated conversation to find a thin man wearing a black leather skull cap, goggled and what appeared to be conventional leather armour, but stripped down to be even lighter and less restrictive than a normal suit. The man was leaning against a large rock only a few feet away, making the NCR soldiers wonder how they didn't notice him earlier. He seemed to be examining the dirt under his nails as spoke, never looking up at the men he was addressing.
"You know, it's nice to see that even after you took over our country, stole what was rightfully our and continue to brutalize our people, you still got your priorities right. And for the record? It is kinda cliché. Don't you think, Ruby?" An attractive young redhead came out from behind the rock, wearing a pair of tattered shorts and a sleeveless jacket, with a bulky revolver in her hand. She leant against the man's shoulder, and smiled seductively at the soldiers, whose grips had tensed on their rifles at the sudden interruption of their conversation. "Yeah, I've always thought people that fell in love with whores were thicker than Brahmin shit. Don't you know what being a whore means?"
Nuts and Bolts had been completely frozen with shock during this, completely unprepared for this couple to suddenly appear and start berating them. Bolts; already agitated by his argument with Nuts, unslung his rifle, and held it tightly in his hands as he stared down the two strangers. "You people have no right to listen in conversations like that, now be on your way...unless you want some trouble."
The man smiled, but his eyes were hidden by the goggles, meaning the smile could suggest anything. His left hand drifted down to a bulky holster strapped to his thigh, a sawed-off shotgun held within. "And what if we are looking for trouble?" Nuts and Bolts narrowed their eyes, and kept their hands tight on their weapons. "What if we're looking…for blood!" The man ripped the shotgun from its leather confines, and levelled it at Nuts. He was still smiling coldly when he unloaded both barrels into the soldier's chest. Nuts was launched off of his feet by the power of the shotgun blast, his body armour shredded by dozens of holes. Bolts' eyes widened in shock and rage. "Noooooo!" He screamed as he raised his rifle at the man. The girl he had Ruby was quicker however, her revolver was already up, and she fired at Bolts, the shot winging the side of his neck, blood spurting from the wound. Bolts staggered sideways, clamping a hand over the round. He tried to aim his rifle one handed, but Ruby fired again, smashing another bullet into the soldier's knee, forcing him to the ground. Bolts tried to stand, but blood was quickly spreading and staining his trousers, and he gave up.
Nuts was coughing heavily, and slowly starting to stand up when the man suddenly jumped over him and pulled a length of lead pipe from his belt, and after a moment's pause, slammed it into Nut's forehead. His head made a sickening smacking sound as it bounced on the concrete underneath it. The man hit again and again, his smile replaced with a snarl of viscous hatred. Nut's face was steadily becoming in unrecognisable blood-covered mess. Bolt's struggled to get back to his feet again. "Get off of him you fucking monster! Get off of him!" His injured knee was forced painfully into the ground by Ruby leaning her weight onto his shoulders from behind, Bolts cried out in pain, and flinched as Ruby pushed the cold metal of her gun barrel into his cheek. She leant down so her mouth was just by his ear.
"You're gonna watch your best friend die, and when he's dead, I'm gonna kill you. I want you to think about all those people you are failing, by just kneeling there. Think of Nuts, having his fucking face smashed in right in front of you. Think of Jasmine, your one true love, getting ploughed by a different man every night, till one guy gets too rough, and she fights back, and she gets fucking murdered in her room, all because you were too weak to save her." Bolts struggled feebly, tears running down his face as the attacker's lead pipe smashed into Nut's face over and over, pummelling his head until it caved it.
After what seemed like forever, the lead pipe's assault slowed, then stopped all together. The man dropped the bloodied pipe on the ground, and stepped away, panting heavily. He turned around and stormed towards Bolts' sobbing form, and kicked him hard in the side of the head just as Ruby let him go. The woman seemed a little hesitant. "You okay Ricky?" Ricky looked up sharply from looking down at Bolts, and attempted a weak smile. "Yeah…yeah, I'm fine. Let's just clean up and run, you never know who's watching." He stood up, and collected his pipe, shaking the worst of the blood off before slotting back onto his belt. He pulled his shotgun out, and loaded two fresh shells.
Bolts raised himself unsteadily to his elbows, and looked up at the man carrying death towards you. He opened lips that were suddenly extremely dry, and asked. "Why are you doing this?"
Ricky closed the shotgun with a flick of his wrist and a loud snap. He aimed the weapon down at Bolt's head, and replied. "Because you don't belong here". The last thing Bolts ever saw was the flash.