Okay this is the new and improved version of chapter one i hope everyone likes it
Completely shrouded in darkness he stood, looking down at the men sitting around the camp fire, they were clad in red prewar football gear modified to look like roman style armor, they where members of Caesar's Legion. He drew his .357 revolver called "Hail Storm", it was called this for a good reason. He took aim at the head of the first Legionary and squeezed the trigger; his movements were as fast as the shots he fired. Six Legionaries lay dead all shot in vital areas, all dead within split seconds of each other. Hail Storm had once again proven its self, sending rounds with such force and speed that it was literally a hail storm. He jumped from his perch only ten feet from the ground twenty feet from the now dead Legionaries. He walked to the bodies to see his handiwork. He began to search the pouches on the men looking for anything useful.
The man looked at his bounty, as small as it was he still managed to get an extra .357 for parts and about twenty rounds for it. He also had found two frag grenades; he smiled at the thought of using one. Healing powder, so simple yet so effective, that was the prize in his eyes. He walked away from the dead Legionaries, gong back to where he had come from, he walked fifty feet from his original perch and saw the dog in the moon light. The dog was in resemblance to a German Sheppard it had a black bandana tied loosely to its neck, it was a younger dog that looked only to be about two years of age but seemed much smarter than most dogs.
"How's daddy's little soldier?" the man asked the dog.
The dog whuffed in response to the question.
"That's good, I'm glad you were good while I was gone." He said to the dog
The dog stared at him tongue hanging from his mouth as he panted.
"Lets get going, daddy's hungry." He said as he motioned for the dog to follow
The man and the dog walked to the small camp where other men and women where stationed. The man removed his helmet, setting it beside him; he sat on the log by the fire and began to pet the dog. The man wearing a ranger vest was the first to notice the silent mans return. He did a quick wave as he walked to the man.
"James how'd the little cleanup mission go?" the man asked
"Hail Storm did me proud, killed six Legionaries in less than six seconds." James replied petting his dog with his right hand.
"Oh, and did you get any good things from 'em?" Asked the ranger
"Yes, a spare revolver with some rounds….and not to mention two frags." James began to smile.
"Looks like someone's gonna have some fun soon!" The ranger exclaimed.
"Yeah." James said looking up at the moon.
James got up and walked into the supply tent then grabbed two cans of Pork & Beans, one for himself the other for the dog. He set his can near the fire then opened the one for the dog setting it in front of the hungry canine.
"That taste good Rufus?" James asked the dog.
Rufus whuffed in response then sneezed from a piece of food going into his nose.
James smiled sitting near the fire petting Rufus as he waited for his meal to heat up. He reached for his now heated can and opened it using his combat knife, pulling a spork out of one of the pouches in his ranger combat armor. James began to eat the beans; his favorite food that was made pre-war. James got up motioning Rufus to stay; he walked into the tent again to get a small bowl and two bottles of water. He filled the bowl for Rufus and began to drink the other for himself. James sat looking out onto the lake; the moon light was shining off of it. James smiled feeling calm. James laid down using the log as a pillow, Rufus assumed his position under his master's right arm and laid his head on the man's chest. The duo soon drifted to sleep as the moon reached its peak height in the night sky.
James awoke early in the morning when the sun began to rise. He looked out onto the lake taking in the beautiful sight of the glistening clear waters. James reached into his small pouch on his left hip and pulled out a cloth bag of brahmin jerky. He held one out for Rufus and the dog happily took the dried meat, James put a small piece in his mouth and let the flavor drain into his mouth as the meat became moistened by his saliva.
"James you've got new orders." A female ranger wearing patrol armor said.
"And they would be?" James asked slightly tilting his head to the right side.
"Your going to be patrolling around Novac." The woman said.
"Novac? The Legion is close to there." James stated.
"Yes they are and your there to make sure they don't gain anymore land on our side of the river, understand?" She said.
"Yes ma'am." James said as he stood and began to stretch.
After James finished his quick stretching he walked to the supply tent and grabbed a rucksack and filled it with Pork & Beans, water and various herbs and ingredients for cooking. He also grabbed his service rifle knowing he would need the extra range if he had to fight the Legion in the daylight. Then James quickly put about 240 rounds of 5.56mm ammo in his bandoleer. James utilized the rifles sling and strapped it to his back, making sure he could access it quickly if needed.
James stayed at the ranger camp for a couple more hours until the sun was high enough there was good visibility. In the time he waited he ate breakfast and fed Rufus. The duo ate some brahmin steaks both would have had water if it where not for James finding a Sunset Sarsaparilla in the supply tent, he let Rufus have a taste of it, which he didn't like. James gave Rufus some water as he downed the sarsaparilla. James took one last look at the lake before departing to Novac.
James began his journey by traveling toBoulderCity; he stayed for about an hour, remembering the fallen NCR soldiers from the First Battle of Hoover Dam. James began to walk away from the monument erected for the fallen soldiers but was stopped by the sight of a giant radscorpion merely twenty feet from his position, the creature was charging at him with its claws spread outward from its body and its stinger pulled back ready to strike at James.
"Rufus get back!" James raised his voice to order the dog.
Rufus backed up showing his teeth and growling loudly. James unslung his service rifle and began to fire at the scorpion's stinger. Four shots and the stinger was severed from the tail of the scorpion, with that James dropped his rifle and pulled his combat knife from his boot and charged the increasingly small distance between him and the now handicapped scorpion. James leapt towards the scorpion. One of the scorpion's claws manages to clip James' boot and he fell face first onto the scorpion's hard carapace. He only stood up once the scorpion stopped moving and tried to brutally split James in two.
James saw the left claw fly towards him and he ducked bringing his combat knife down just above the black beady eyes of the scorpion. James lost his balance when the large creature fell.
"That was exciting." James mumbled to himself as he finally came to a stop after the tumble from the scorpion's back.
"Goodboy Rufus." James said to the dog as he came over too him licking at James' fingers on his right hand that were left visible for better shooting ability.
James sat up petting his companion, taking his helmet off. James motioned for Rufus to stay put as he walked to the severed stinger from the now dead scorpion. He pulled a empty bottle from his rucksack and cut the stinger off, letting the scorpion's venom run into the bottle. James had a disgusted look on his face as the last of the greenish yellow liquid oozed into the bottle.
"Rufus look what daddy's got!" James playfully said to the dog.
Rufus began to pant and wag his tail, knowing his master had found something he liked. James stored the bottle in one of the smaller pockets of the rucksack so if it where to get damaged he wouldn't have to worry about it contaminating his food and make it easier to access.
"This will be perfect if I find any throwing knives." James said to himself zipping up his pack.
James began to walk again with Rufus in toe. James walked for about twenty minutes until he came to the 188 Trading Post. James quickly found the arms merchant, a former NCR soldier.
"Got throwing knives by any chance?" James asked taking off his helmet.
"I don't believe so." said the woman "But never the less I'll still check"
"Thank you." James said to the woman with a rather happy undertone to his voice.
"Ah, I found five of them!" exclaimed the woman.
"Oh thank you so much." James said "How much do I owe you?".
"Nothin' these are on the house." the woman said grinning slightly "Well, they're free so long as you kill a Legionary for me."
James smiled "I will, I can assure you of that."
"Good." said the woman.
James saluted the woman, she seemed flattered by this. James smiled as he put his helmet back on. James walked to the small bar at the other end of the overpass backtracking to travel south to Novac.
"Could I have two brahmin steaks," James said
"Sure thing." said the man behind the bar.
James smiled as he received the steaks he tossed the smaller of the two to Rufus who happily ate the piece of meat. James took only a couple minutes to down his steak. He got up from the bar said his thanks for the food and began to once again walk towards Novac.
"Six hours Rufus, about sun down we should arrive, sound good boy?" James asked the dog.
Rufus began to wag his tail.
"Good." said James looking to the south.
James walked down the overpass and followed the road towards Novac. He walked down the road to a billboard and noticed something move from behind one of the broken panels in the advertising instrument. James pulled his revolver from the holster and motioned for Rufus to stay low. The duo slowly crept the twenty foot distance then rounded the billboard. Much to James' surprise he was greeted by a man in a duster tuning and acoustic guitar.
"Don't worry Ranger I don't bite." The duster clad man said.
"I just was worried there were raiders." James said as he holstered his revolver.
"Rufus he's a nice person so don't bite okay?" James said kneeling down to his companion.
"Nice guitar you got there." James said as he looked back to the man.
"Yea I play it a lot, still sounds good though." The man said with a chuckle.
James looked to the mans right hip and spotted his revolver and said "And that revolver is even better than the guitar."
"Yea it's a special .44 I got some time ago. Your .357 is very nice if I do say so myself. I think the darker metal with the etchings really set it off." The man said as he leaned the guitar against the stump he was sitting on.
"Hail Storm is a beauty isn't she?" James said with a light chuckle.
"Definitely." The man said as he walked over to his duffle bag and pulled out a two Nuka Colas. "Lets swap tales about some of our adventures in the wastes."
"Sounds good, though I am supposed to be going somewhere I have plenty of time to kill." James said taking off his helmet and duster setting them by the billboard.
The two men sat for hours swapping tales of killing raiders, helping those in distress and about the biggest kill they got with their prized revolvers. James waved goodbye to his new friend as he departed on the road to Novac once again.