Alrighty, this is NOT a sure thing. I MIGHT continue this if I get the inspiration but no promises.
My name is John Arcadius Grimm Monroe, I'm 25 and I'm a Courier for the Mojave Express. My designation as Courier 13 usually means I get the jobs no one else wants and when I do get a semi decent job it's usually a death trap.
Some of my employers seem reluctant to use me, usually because of my number. Surprisingly enough people are still superstitious enough to believe a number means the package will be lost, maybe they're right. But still, my delivery rate IS 100% for a reason. Despite those death traps, I manage to deliver my package whole.
I recently received a job; surprisingly it seems desirable, pays well and doesn't lead me through either Cazador or Deathclaw territories. A simple delivery from my base, Vault 7 (hah, irony at its finest), to New Vegas, then a return to Primm and that NCR checkpoint south of Primm to receive some supplies, half for me to resupply from the trip! It's not even time sensitive!
The contract DOES warn the possibility of some hit men, nothing major like the Legion, but maybe some Vipers or some Fiends. I'm planning on taking my basic equipment, my good old Marksman Carbine, a Sniper Rifle I found and a Katana I've had since I was a boy, and I'll have Natalie prep some explosive rounds and some JSP ammo.
Oh, right, Natalie is my partner. We've been together since, I don't know, before the NCR got here, but before that? I don't remember her not being with me at any point in my life. She's extremely capable, especially in mid-range combat with her LMG and her .44 revolver, both insanely modified. I've been telling her to train a bit in close combat with me, just in case, but she says that she trusts me. Can't say I blame her, the only time I've let her be injured was on our first job. Stupid rookie mistake, I thought I'd killed the last raider for the caravan we were escorting. Turns out he had on an extra layer of armor I hadn't seen and the only thing he got from the shot to the chest with my 9mm was a bruise. He shot her in the arm before I noticed. I don't remember what happened after exactly, but I do remember seeing the caravaneers huddled and Nat just looking shocked. I passed out right after. When I woke up we were a mile out from our destination. We got our money and hoofed it back home. She still hasn't told me what happened.
Anyway, between my people skills, old world tech knowledge and ability to cook, and her seemingly perfect understanding of the workings of any machine and the knowledge on how to fix it, her lock picking skills, and her luck, we've gotten out of some sticky situations.
I head down to the maintenance area to tell Nat the good news. She's usually down in the maintenance tunnels, modifying some weapon or another. As I walk up to her, she seems to be tinkering with a Sniper Rifle we scavenged the other day, having it in pieces on the workbench we dragged down here.
"What're you up to now?" I groan, exasperated. "I was planning on using that!"
"You should be grateful I broke it down, look" she grabbed the barrel and pointed it at me, I could see a little lump in the middle of the barrel "That's TNT, one shot with this, especially with your oh so beloved explosive ammo, and you'd be dead. Besides, it was falling apart, I though you needed a new bolt on your old one?"
"I do, but still, it would have been easier to let this one break down before I used it for mine." I tell her as I sit on the couch we put down here from the recreational are "Anyway, that's not why I'm here. I got us a job"
"A job?" she asks skeptically "Is this another raid with the NCR? Because, as much as I hate the Legion, we can't just go out there and waste our own resources to help take them down" And it's true, the NCR branch we've been working with has been strapped for supplies and can't afford to spare any so we can fight alongside them. Even if we DO have a higher kill count individually then 10 of their own people. Combined.
"Nope, I actually got contacted by the ME, a delivery, from here to Primm, to New Vegas, back to Primm, then we resupply with a caravan they're sending with us to the southern checkpoint" I say, pointing at the map on the wall. We spend a lot of time here, so we have several things in this room.
She frowns at me and chews her lip "Seems… to easy, you sure it said Courier 13?"
I nod at her "Yup, I triple checked with the Express, they said it's for me. Asked for me actually, guess I'm finally getting the rep I deserve right?" I wink at her.
She laughs at me and punches my shoulder as she plops down next to me "Yeah, because we all know the almighty Courier 13 can deliver anything, alone" Her involvement isn't usually talked about when we work, pay is raised a bit, but most think she's a merc I hired on the way here or, rarely, a whore for my entertainment. "Anything we have to shoot on the way there?"
I laugh as she starts to lay down next to me "Not really, the package isn't time sensitive, the client DID warn that some Vipers or Fiends might attack, but I looked at the route he'd prefer, and it's through Vault 86, so we take the highway from Primm and hit the 188 outpost on the way to resupply if we need it."
"So minor resistance and no time frame? How's the pay?" she seems excited, but wary. There are hardly any jobs like this anymore.
I grin as I answer her "2,000 caps. Each." She looks up at me, confused and asks "2,000? This does NOT smell right" she starts to stand up but I pull her down to avoid a rant.
"Your right, that's why I was going to ask if you could make some match and JSP rounds for the trip. I've still got like 20 mags of match from the last job, but we're low on JSP"
She pouts at me; she does love to rant, but sighs and says "Sure, but I'm comfy right now. Is the client coming here or are we meeting him at Primm?"
"He's coming here, he lives nearby so it'll easier for him" I shrug as I start to stroke her hair. "By the way, how's my Pip-Boy, I kinda need it to mark the location and stuff."
She vaguely motions toward the table as she says "Its fine, just a loose wire. I did manage to boost the radio range; our Pip-Boys can connect at about 1 mile of distance. Just need to figure out a way to get a speaker into our ears so we can sneak around separately."
"Hmm, sounds interesting, anything I should be on the lookout for when we go out?"
"Not really, if there're speakers that small, odds are we won't find them" she yawned as she snuggled into my side "Don't worry about it, if you happen to see one, DO avoid crushing it"
"Heh, if I do crush it, odds are you can fix it anyway" I repositioned myself as I talk, laying her down on my chest as I lay on the couch "Besides, the client gets here tomorrow anyway so we plan the route tomorrow, get the package and get going early next morning if he gets here after 6"
"Hmmmm, I like that idea" she purred, almost like one of those old world cats I'd seen on one of the computers we managed to salvage.
"Its late, we should get to bed" I murmured, knowing as I did that we wouldn't move from the couch
"Probably" she whispered as she snuggled into me.
That night would be the last peaceful one we would have for a while to come.
The next morning we managed to get up early enough to double check the security systems on the Vault, ensure the water chip was in working order and start packing. We finished, so Nat started making rounds and I went to go see if the client had arrived. Sure enough, he hadn't so I settled in to wait a while.
Now, one thing about Vault 7 that people don't seem to know is, even though it's called a Vault, it wasn't built by Vault-Tec. It was built by an offshoot, People-Tec, created by a few scientists that left Vault-Tec because they didn't agree with the way the company was experimenting with the inhabitants. Since the company was smaller, the Vault itself was smaller, being built for around 40-50 people at a time. Vault 7 was also the last one built, so it's the most "advanced" relative to the others, including a small room that can be used to grow food, a more reliable water filter, a better reactor and a camera installed outside. Sadly, the camera doesn't work anymore, but we are working on fixing it.
As I lounged on a miniature barricade we set up at the entrance of the Vault, I spotted some figures approaching. Grabbing my Sniper Rifle, I looked down the sights to see if I had reason to worry.
I did. Fiends. At least 20 of them. Turning on my Pip-Boy, I called Natalie while I set up my gun. "Hey, we have some incoming junkies, 20 as far as I can tell. How are the rounds coming?" I scoped one and took him out with a head shot, but it only seemed to piss off the rest and they kept rushing.
"I've made about 40, do you have enough up there?" her voice, calm as it was, came out a bit garbled. Seems the Vault still blocked some communications.
"Yeah, I've got 30 or so rounds" Two more went down while we spoke, but they seemed relentless. "I might need backup though, they're moving pretty quickly"
"Alright, I'll head up with the ammo" In the background I could hear her grabbing a gun "Wimp"
"I am NOT a-" he transmission cut off before I could finish, so I proceeded to take out my frustrations on the Fiends on the way. By the time she got to me, there were 13 or so left.
"Having fun are we?" she giggled as she started preparing her rig to defend our home.
"A bit, yeah" I grunt as I take out one-make that 2 more "Hah, I went through ones head and hit the guy behind him" I chuckled out as I reloaded, get ready; they should be in your range in a bit. Did you bring my-" she cut me off by putting down my Carbine, all loaded and ready for action. "I knew I kept you around for a reason" I put down my Sniper and readied the carbine.
"You mean it's not because I can fix your shit? And here I thought we were both getting something out of this relationship" she says as she sights her targets with a scope she scavenged from another gun I discarded earlier "Any big plans here boss, or just kill them all?"
"Take them out. Mow them down and I'll pick the stragglers after"
"Alright, let me just see if this new mod works right" she then proceeded to do pull out the biggest magazine I had ever seen.
"How… What?" my mind boggled at how she managed to carry that around, it looked about twice as big as the 200 round mags she usually used.
"Bit of tinkering, didn't take much for me to make the magazine on this bigger" She says, loading the new box into the gun.
"How much ammo can that thing hold?!"
"'Bout 300 rounds. But that's nothing to what I have in the works. It's a surprise though, so don't ask me anymore!" She giggled, actually giggled, at the thought. And then.
She opened fire.
Most people have a defining moment in their life, a moment in which they realize something. It could be as simple as being in love with someone, or realizing your beliefs in something are wrong. Such a moment came to me now, watching Nat unload 300 rounds of ammunition into the soft bodies of the drug-addled junkies that tried to attack us with a grin of sheer joy on her face.
Natalie is crazy.
And she's on my side.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.