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Chapter 3: You're playing the hand you've been dealt.

With Goodsprings and Ringo safe, I fixed up the rifle Sunny gave me before this mess occurred, and picked up a silencer and scope from Chet. I knew that if I wanted to pass through the highway, I was going to have to kill a few more Powder Gangers. I had everything I needed, and Victor was willing to let me use his place for storage, especially after he failed to help the town. I never understood why a pure robot needed a house in the first place, and I don't think I ever wanna know.

I reached Primm with the intent to report to the Mohave Express, only to find out the town had been taken over by convicts from the same prison that the Powder Gangers came from. I thought about meeting Lieutenant Hayes, but realised that the NCR probably screwed up, again, with their troop deployment. I wasn't stupid, I knew the NCR had been overstretching their reach, and had been ever since Tandy died.

I was careful, observing the town and looking for a good vantage point. I eventually settles for the second floor of a ruined building next to the Mojave Express, and picked my targets. It may have been a cruddy Varmint Rifle, but it was night when I arrived, and i put the silencer and night scope through their paces. Four dead convicts and their loot later, and I checked out the courier's office. I was in for a meeting with fate that moment, though I didn't know it just then.

I knew what an eyebot was, but I never saw one that looked like it was capable for extended combat. ED-E was just lying there, but I didn't know if I should have fixed it. Part of me still regrets fixing that robot, I would have rather remained ignorant, than have learned what I did. I looked around, expecting to see bodies, but the place was as empty as the grave I left back at Goodsprings, so I went to the Casino instead.

"I don't know what brought you to Primm, youngster, but you might want to rethink you plans. Town's gone to hell." That summed it up nicely. Johnson Nash, the courier office's manager, filled me in on the man who shot me, and pointed me to a rundown casino, full of convicts that wanted the town dead, lovely. I found out that Beagle had notes to point me towards my next target, but he did give me permission to take ED-E if I could fix him. Again, I sometimes wish I didn't.

"External device recognized as friendly/ally. Applying Remote Adaptation Interface. Eyebot Duraframe E series identified. External Enhanced Sensors attuned to Perceptual Awareness. Compatibility 100%"

"What the hell?!" I had to say it. Even with the best cybernetics money 'can't' buy, compatibility shouldn't have been above 40% with external modules, especially remote ones like ED-E. I didn't have time to think about it, as I knew that ED-E's enhanced sensors would basically eliminate any and all ambush attempts in the future. It was also very helpful in predicting ambush points for the convicts, especially since the leader happened to have an incinerator, and even though it would have destroyed my armor, ED-E was able to help me wipe out the rest of the convicts once we rushed the bastard and shot his head off. The other three cons weren't up to snuff compared to their boss. I shot two cons dead in quick succession, and ED-E turned the last one into a flaming corpse.

Even though Beagle was mostly useless, he did have the info I needed, and he told me how to help Primm, although I really wondered why I had to wage war on the NCRCF. I only needed to get Meyers out, not kill off the Powder Gangers leadership. Eddie was a joke, but Scrambler was a bit more dangerous. Still, got the job done with ED-E's help, though I took a few bullets in the process. I was happy ED-E had such a large storage compartment, otherwise wouldn't have been able to haul all the gear I found, and I travel light normally.

Meyers himself, he was willing to serve as the sheriff for Primm, but he needed a pardon from the NCR. I fixed up my gear as best as I could, and used the tool set on ED-E to rig some of the supplies I found into useful gear like repair kits and medical kits. I also traded off some of the weapons and ammo to Nash for som stims and food. Meyers was a good sort, still is I guess, just prefers to deal with problems with a bullet to the brainbox.

It was going to be a while before we reached the Mojave Outpost, So I decided to bunk with the NCR troops in the nearby camp for a while. Most of them were kind of freaked out by ED-E, but none of them shot either of us, and that was a good thing. Before I knew it, ED-E began playing a very appropriate song. I looked up at the night sky, I and I knew two thing. The first, the moon fit the title of the song perfectly, a blue moon. The second, with ED-E, a fellow prototype, weapon and wanderer, I was no longer alone.