Chapter one: Of human nature

(a/n- something I thought of while replaying fallout new vegas (been years since I have… man I forgot how good of a game it is) but I'll let the story do the talking. And yes, I did include OC's because of… reasons that will become apparent soon.)

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

That same thought was running through my head as I held onto my sister, looking around at the group of people we were being moved towards. My friends, my neighbors, customer's of Nipton and others… all of us were being gathered here, prodded by the spears of the Legionaries as they started gathering us. I held tight to my little sister, Julie, I held her hand and refused to let go, and I looked ahead, squinting my eyes to try and see mom and dad. I couldn't see them of course, I could barely see at all. "Stupid nearsightedness." I thought as me and Julie stopped moving, at the center of the crowd in the center of town, right in front of the town hall. I felt one of them men shoving something in my hands as I held it up, I saw it was what seemed to be a small slip of paper, the number '6' written on it in crude handwriting. I looked down, my sister holding up hers as well. "What's this big brother?" she asked, pointing to what looked to be a number '5' on the ticket.

"Hello people of Nipton." I heard a strangely creepy voice say. I looked up, and I saw a blur of brown. I felt a nudge against my hand as I looked down, seeing my sister holding up a pair of glasses. "Thanks sis." I whispered, pulling them on and looking up towards the man. Now that I could see, I found that he was wearing sunglasses, with a dog pelt draped over his shoulders, and a savage looking hound at his feet. He was dressed in the typical legion armor, not surprising, but I could tell he was the leader of this little raiding party. His skin was pale white, but he held a slight smile. He spoke slowly, in a way that reminded me of a snake. "I'm sure you're all wondering about those little tickets of yours right? Well, we're having a… lottery, of sorts." he said, letting out a low chuckle, some of the legion members doing the same thing. I felt my sister wrap her arms around me, and I did the same, holding her close. I didn't like this. "You there." he said, pointing towards someone in the front.

The man walked up, one of the powder gangers, clutching his ticket. The man smiled, "What number does your ticket say?" he asked, slowly and reciting it as if it were a death sentence. It probably was come to think of it. The man gulped, looking down at the ticket with shaking hands. "F-Forty-two!" the man said. The legion man smirked, walking over and plucking the ticket from his hands. He looked up, pushing down his sunglasses slightly and smirking towards the powder ganger. "Then you're lucky loser number one. Off with his head." he said calmly. The man started shouting, struggling against the grip of the two legion members. No one did a thing. Not even the other powder gangers. They just watched as they forced him to the ground, they just watched as his head rolled off his body.

That went on for so long, for so long people getting called up, some being beheaded, others crucified, and a few others taken away. The mayor himself was called up, turned out he was the reason the legion was here. He sold us out, and now he was burning over a stack of tires. Our numbers had dwindled so much, but still we out numbered the legion. "You. Little girl, holding onto the glasses wearing kid." the man said, keeping that same smile as he pointed at Julie. I glared up at him as I held Julie tighter to me. The man clucked his tongue, two legionaries coming forwards and trying to force us apart. I didn't budge, I didn't move. I felt a sharp pain on my back as I, finally, feel to my knees, falling on the ground. "At least one tries to resist." I heard the man say, smiling towards me. My sister was guided up there, shaking like a leaf. When she read off her card, I felt my heart skip a beat, waiting for the man to decide her fate. I didn't have to wait long.

"Crucifiction."

I felt my heart stop as I stood, looking over and seeing her struggling against the stronger men. I tried to move forwards. "JULIE!" I yelled, reaching out towards her, only for two legion members to hold me back. I looked over, and I saw mom and dad… just standing there Sobbing. They accepted it… they accepted that Julie was dead. They accepted the man's orders. I just watched as they lead Julie towards the cross, her looking back at me. I moved back, the men letting go for a brief second. "You were a damn Khan kid, DO SOMETHING!" I heard my older sister's voice yelling at me. I gritted my teeth as I walked forwards. One of the men pointed his spear at me, but I just glared. I kicked up, kicking at the sand and getting some in his eyes as he staggered back. I lunged, punching him harder than I ever punched anyone as I grabbed his spear, swinging it around and hitting the other man with it. "JULIE! RUN!" I yelled, rushing towards her as I held the spear, my vision zoning in on the man about to nail her to the cross.

I held the spear back, throwing it with everything I had. I watched the other man fall as I rushed forwards, towards Julie. Then, I felt a much greater pain. "GAH!" I yelled, falling down as I gripped at my knee. I looked back, seeing a spear sticking out of my knee. I grabbed it, only for another hand to slowly wrap around mine. When I followed the arm, I found I was in the face of the other man, the one with the dog. "You're more of a man than I thought. But what do you hope to accomplish? Save these people? Play the hero?" he asked, giving me a little smirk as I fell forwards, him pulling the spear from my knee. "Bring the girl to me." he said, pointing towards Julie, who stood there, motionless. Two legionaries brought her over, the man smirking slightly as he grabbed her, tossing her towards the crowd. Then, he called for her parents. Mom and dad came up, not our real parents, but as close as we could get. Then, the man did something I could never forgive... or forget.

"Whichever one of you kills her, I'll let you go."

It was instant, both of them grabbing whatever they could and striking at Julie, their daughter, with everything they had, both hoping to get the killing blow and walk free. I just sat there, my eyes widening as my mouth dropped open in horror. "These people are monsters, but you are not. Will you be a dog and let them win… or will you be a man?" he asked, looking down at me. I didn't even have to think about it. I stood, gripping my leg as I fought through the pain, rushing forwards. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" I yelled, punching my mother as hard as I could. My father leaned back, but I took my mother's rock, the one she'd been hitting Julie with, and I slammed it into his face, knocking him back. I crouched, reaching down and slowly picking up Julie. "Julie?! Are you okay? Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…" I muttered, looking down at her with concerned eyes.

"She lives… both of you are not from this town of whores, are you?" the man said, standing over me. I glared up at him, reaching for a rock and hurling it towards him. He just grabbed it effortlessly, tossing it to the side. "Answer me boy." "No… we're from Freeside." I said, glaring towards the leader as I stood, gripping my bleeding knee as legion members surrounded me, all of them glaring. Some of them though… they didn't look with anger, but respect. Some of them, even fear. "Take them into the town hall." the dog wearing man said. I crouched over my sister, picking up a piece of concrete to try and defend her. But it was all for nothing. The second I tried to throw it, I felt one of them knock me over, keeping tight grips on my arms. I was panting. I was tired. I was in pain. I'd used so much energy just to try and save my sister that now they were just dragging us off like slabs of meat to a slaughter. I could only hope they wouldn't kill Julie as I felt my eyelids slip shut, and I succumbed to the darkness.

When I opened my eyes, I didn't see Nipton, I didn't see Red Rock Canyon or even Freeside… instead I saw Bitter Springs. I saw Julie, she was younger, maybe five at the most, playing around in the sand as I tossed a friend of mine to the ground, just us roughhousing like usual. Even without my glasses, where I could barely see, I could still take down most of the other boys. Dad said I had a gift… back when he was still around. Suddenly though, I saw people, our warriors, running towards the edges of the camp, all of them grabbing their pistols and clubs and pipes and really whatever they could find. I saw my mother running out towards us, wearing the familiar, opened leather vest, exposing a strip down her chest, as well as her distended stomach. She was holding a rifle, our fathers. "Julie! Thatcher! Come on! We need to go! Now!" she said, quickly picking up Julie. I took the hint, dashing over and hoisting the young girl on my back. We started running, heading towards the back with all the other children and women, blissfully unaware of the fate that awaited us… most of us, anyway.

"Thatcher?"

I slowly opened my eyes, grunting as I tried to sit up, looking around. We were in the Nipton town hall, I knew that much just from the few times that I'd been inside of it. I looked down, seeing that I was laid on a mattress, and that my wounds had been patched up. "Who did this?" I thought to myself as I let my eyes trail down my wounds. Right next to me, I found something a bit odd. It was a spear, the same kind the legionaries used. I picked it up, sitting the butt on the ground and using it to pull myself to a standing position. "Are you okay Julie?" "Yeah. I heard gunfire so I hid, but this lady ran through, she started shooting everything. It's been a few hours since you got knocked out." she said. I felt my eyes widen slightly as I looked around, hoping to find something useful, maybe at least a gun. Then, I heard it. Four gunshots, resonating through the seemingly empty building. I took a step back from the doorway I thought it came from, Julie staggering behind me and holding onto, thankfully, my undamaged leg. "Think that's the last of them." I heard a female voice say.

I looked towards the door, my eyes widening a bit as I saw a woman, clad in a cowboy hat and leather armor, a backpack on and holding what looked to be a revolver. She had a pipboy on her arm, if I remembered the name correctly, and at the moment she was stabbing a stimpack into her arm, which I was fairly certain couldn't bend the way it was. When she looked up, her eyes widened as she aimed her gun at me. "You don't look legion… who are you?" she said, her eyes suddenly narrowing. I tried to calm myself down as I slowly set down the spear, holding up my hands in the process. "We're from Nipton… we lived here before the legion invaded. What happened to everyone else? Are they all…" I left it hanging, not wanting to finish the sentence. She just nodded, her face showing a hint of regret. "Crucified powder gangers are all outside, along with a bunch of dead legion… though, that was mostly my fault." she said, smirking slightly as she said the second phrase.

I felt my eyes widen, "You took out the legion? All by yourself?" I asked, Julie just as wide eyed as she cowered behind my knee. The small raiding party that had taken our entire town was stopped by just one person? She nodded, "Took them by surprise. Managed to snipe three before the rest found me. Ruined my rifle though…" she said, frowning as she reached down, pulling out what looked to be a rifle barrel. A varmint rifle barrel to be exact, the same kind that I'd repaired on occasion. "So what're you doing here anyway miss?" I said, looking down towards the woman's pipboy. She didn't look like she was one of the vaults, she still had that 'wasteland' look in her eyes, the eyes of someone that had seen their fair share of death in the Mojave. She holstered her gun, seemingly not deeming me and my sister a threat. "Looking for someone. Man down in Primm said he saw him heading for Novac." she said. I nodded, that would explain why she was in Nipton. Most travellers that went to New Vegas and Novac had to go through Nipton to get there.

"Would you mind taking us? To Novac I mean." I said, knowing it was a longshot. Maybe we could survive in Novac, but there wasn't a chance just me and Julie could make it in what was left of Nipton. The woman, as expected, raised an eyebrow at me, "And what do I get out of that?" she asked. I sighed, I figured she would say something like that. Most people in the Mojave wouldn't even breathe for you unless you paid them, either in service or in caps. Of course, I didn't have any caps. "Your armor, it's taken some serious damage. Your gun's not in great shape either… if you let us come with you, I can repair them." I said. Everyone in Nipton knew me as the repair guy, if something broke, they'd come to my adopted parents, they'd say 'Bring it to Thatcher, he'll fix it.'. The woman slowly nodded, a small smile on her face. "Alright then, prove it. Fix my rifle." she said, tossing the rifle barrel at me. I raised an eyebrow, only to see her setting down what looked to be the rest of the parts. At least she had all of them. "Eh, I've worked with less." I thought as I crouched down, grabbing a rag from my pocket and cleaning some parts, twisting others, moving them around.

After maybe eight minutes I was finally done, and I held up the finished product. The woman didn't look convinced, and held up her pip boy, her eyes widening. "Like it's brand new… nice work." she said, smiling down at me. She reached down, holding out her pistol, but I held up my hands, slowly shaking my head. "Nope. You get us to Novac, then I repair your gun and armor." I said. She pouted towards me, smirking a bit as she walked over, leaning over slightly. I looked away, finding that I was staring at the one place her skin showed through her armor, and I would be looking down her cleavage if I did. "Not even for me cutie?~" "No. Get us, to Novac." I said, turning to face her with the sternest look I could muster. She pouted again, standing back up and smoothing out her armor. "Dammit. That normally works. Alright fine, I'll get you and your sister to Novac." she said. I smiled at the woman, reaching down and hoisting the legion spear back over my shoulder as Julie smiled up at me.

"Thank you miss…?" "Six. Just call me six." she said, giving me a smile as she tipped her cowboy hat towards me. I just nodded, turning around and picking up a few of the nearby herbs, each of them able to be mixed into medicines. Of course, I didn't know how… that's what Julie was for. I fixed guns and armor, she fixed people… how fitting. The woman, Six apparently, just gestured to my leg, "What happened to you?" "The guy with the dog hood ran a spear through it after I killed one of his men." I said. The woman slowly nodded, but then looked back towards Julie, who was still cowering behind my leg. Six looked back to me, raising an eyebrow, "She's my little sister. I tried to save her and… well, I guess you can see how that ended." "You shouldn't be alive you know." she said, her face deadly serious. I felt a shiver go down my spine as I reaching down, casually picking up the spear and hoisting the strap around it over my back. Something about the way the woman spoke didn't sit quite right with me. "The legion aren't really known for their mercy. The whole town was slaughtered and Vulpes spared you two? I get the feeling he had plans for you… least he did before I put a bullet through his skull." Six said, smirking slightly as she lightly pat her revolver holster.

I didn't say anything as I moved the spear around again, laying the blunt edge on the ground and using it to help me walk forwards. "This should make you better." I heard Julie say. I looked down, finding that she was holding what looked to be a stimpack. I raised an eyebrow, but I accepted it regardless, I was in too much pain to really care where she'd actually gotten the stimpack. I felt instant relief as I jabbed the needle in my leg, feeling the damaged bones healing themselves. After a few seconds I unwrapped the bandages, smiling as I saw my undamaged flesh. "Where'd you get that stimpack sis?" "I took it off the table when the legion guy wasn't looking." she said, smiling up at me. I chuckled as I reached down, ruffling her hair slightly. "Nice work." I said. Normally I'd have scolded her for stealing, but if it was from the people that slaughtered our town and nearly killed both of us… I mean, who was I to stop her? Six walked over to us, giving a slight smile, "Ready to go?" she asked, drawing her revolver and aiming it towards the door. I just nodded, Julie nodding along with me as she reached up, gripping my left hand. I gripped her hands in mine as I hoisted the spear over my shoulder again, walking towards the door as Six followed.

I stopped at the door, waiting for my eyes to get adjusted to the darkness before I started walking forwards. "Whoa…" "Told you." Six said, smirking at me. What me and Julie were gawking at was the massive amounts of blood, shell casings, and legion corpses that littered the ground. Even the man with the dog hood, Vulpes if what Six had said was anything to go off of, was lying dead on the stairs, as lifeless as the ground he laid on. I looked down at Julie, finding that she was covering her mouth with one of her hands, the other grasped tightly onto mine. I reached down, hoisting her up onto my back as she nearly instinctively wrapped her arms around my neck. "Just keep your eyes closed Julie… we'll be out of here soon." I said. Julie just nodded, burying her face into the back of my neck to try and not look at the bodies. Six just casually stepped over them, heading towards the eastern exit to town, through the mountain pass.

I followed, doing my best to step over bodies and bullets… but I stopped after a second, dropping the spear and grabbing a rifle off one of the dead legionaries. It wasn't in the best condition, but it would serve it's purpose. I managed to get maybe two clips for it, maybe twenty rounds in total, before I rushed off to catch up with Six. She had stopped near the sign, now leaving Nipton, and was crouched down, getting out a rifle, one that I'd generally only seen on NCR troopers. "Keep quiet, Jackal's on the ridge." she whispered, aiming her rifle down towards the ridgeline. I crouched beside her, Julie jumping off of me and dashing over towards a nearby bush, likely seeing some kind of medicinal herb or something. I got out the rifle, aiming it towards the hillside. I shut one eye, seeing the occasional flashes of movement coming from the Jackals. I saw one in metal armor, and that was enough for me to know who we were dealing with. "Shoot on my kill." Six said, her eyes dead centered on the man in the metal armor. I nodded, aiming towards one that had seemed to notice us, drawing his gun and walking in our direction.

BANG!

"GAH!" I heard Six yell, gripping her shoulder. I fired off my own rifle, killing the now approaching jackal before he started rolling down the hill. I pulled back the bolt and looked around, my eyes widening as I saw Six quick draw her revolver, aiming it behind us. One second there was a legion soldier, the next there was a corpse. I turned around, firing off a few rounds towards some of the less armored jackals, knowing that I couldn't kill the leader with the peashooter I had. "You're not a bad shot with that thing." Six said before she drew her own rifle, firing off another round, killing another jackal that had gotten close. I fired at the metal armor clad jackal, the only one left, as he started firing what looked like a submachine gun at us. Me and Six seemed to have the same thought as we both started backing up, me ducking behind a nearby building, Six the nearby mountain-side.

I aimed around the corner, firing a few rounds that simply pinged off the jackal's armor. "This rifle's not strong enough… I need something better." I thought. I saw Six firing a few revolver rounds at the jackal, said man running towards us now. If the bullets were hurting him, he didn't show it. I turned around, dashing back around the house as I looked for something, anything on the dead legion soldiers to kill the jackal. Then I saw it, the spear that I'd laid down not a few minutes ago. I holstered the rifle around my shoulder, picking up the spear and rushing back around. I held my arm back, hoping the man wouldn't see me, before I lunged forwards, throwing the spear as hard as I could. I watched that spear sail through the air before I heard the loud clang, the spear piercing through the man's armor and shoulder, pinning him to the ground for a moment. That was all the time Six needed, she quickly fired a shot at him with her revolver, man was dead before his body could hit the ground.

I dashed over, seeing Six holding onto her shoulder as she holstered her gun. She smiled at me, "Nice throw." "Thanks. You alright?" I asked, concern painting my face as I saw the blood coming from her shoulder. She was trying to staunch the bleeding but, I could tell it wasn't working all that well. She shook her head, "Thing busted up my shoulder… I'm fresh outta stims." she said, walking over and rooting around the armored man's corpse. I heard what sounded like the pattering of feet as I turned, smiling as I saw Julie running up to us, holding a few plants in her hands. "Maybe I can help!" she said, smiling as she walked over to Six. Six raised an eyebrow, but Julie didn't seem to be deterred, walking up and laying a hand on the underside of Six's armor. "You need to get that armor off so I can treat the wound." she said. I turned around, walking away as I heard Six mumble something in agreement. Even if Six didn't mind I knew that Julie would want me to leave while Six wasn't in her armor.

I sat down against the side of the house I was using as cover against the jackal, and I held out the old rifle. It wasn't in the worst condition I'd ever seen, so I grabbed out my kit, getting to work on it. Fixing weapons helped clear my head, helped me think. "What are we going to do when we get to Novac?" that thought almost made me stop cleaning the weapon barrel. There was a question to worry about, what were we going to do when we got to Novac? Would they even allow us there? It wasn't like we had any caps or anything really to our name. Maybe I could set up a repair shop? That would be the only thing I could think of. Maybe Julie and I could sell medicines and plants there or something.

It was about ten minutes later when I saw Six walk around the corner, clad in what looked to be a vault suit. I raised an eyebrow at her attire, but she just shook her head, "Armor's too busted up. Won't protect me any." she said. I just nodded, standing up and pulling back the bolt on my rifle to load a round into the chamber. Julie came around the corner a second later, this time with what looked to be a small satchel over her shoulder, likely filled with as many plants and herbs as she could find. She smiled, holding the satchel up, "Look! I found a bunch of healing plants!" "Nice job Julie." I said, giving the little girl a smile as she let the satchel thump against her side. I saw Six walking towards one of the jackals, almost ripping the armor off of it's body as she laid it on the ground, going around and doing the same to two other jackals. Then she seemed to haphazardly take good pieces of both, repairing the armor without near the efficiency I could've done it with. The she quickly stripped off the vault suit, exposing her gray shirt and underwear, and quickly pulled on the other armor, tossing the vault suit in her backpack. "Let's move while it's still dark," Six said, walking along the road. Then she turned, smiling back at the two of us,

"We've got a long way to go."