Si vis pacem chapter 6
Sian was retelling her little adventure while the camp's designated medic dug the bullet out of her shoulder. After downing half a bottle of whiskey, the girl didn't even feel the tongs digging around in the wound.
Lieutenant Hayes had badgered her into giving him a sitrep and Sian had complied, simply to shut him up. By the time she finished the story and the bottle, it seemed like every soldier, not on guard, had crowded around the tent entrance to listen to the girl.
"Well, missy.. I wasn't sure how well you'd do, but I have to say, I'm very impressed. If you ever wanna enlist, tell me. I call dib's on having you in my unit." Hayes' eyes had lit up as he watched the young warrior before him. She hadn't moved a muscle during the whole procedure and had spoken quite emotionlessly. This Sian was the perfect soldier. But the Lt also saw that her eyes were red-rimmed and that she was suppressing a yawn every now and then. He ordered his men back to their stations and practically forced Sian to lay down on his cot and sleep. It was morning already, but the girl needed to rest.
After minimal protest, Sian slunk over to the cot and collapsed onto it. Aurelio came to snuggle up to his mistress, and the alcohol, as well as the exhaustion of the night caught up with the small woman.
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Sian slept for a few hours and awoke shortly after 2 PM. She groaned a bit, her sleep once again had been restless because of her nightmares, but seeing as no one had shaken her awake, apparently she'd suffered through them in silence. She found Hayes, got some food into her and then ventured into Primm to talk with the residents there. The first place she wanted to check out, was the Mojave Express office. Maybe they could tell her something about her botched delivery.
Johnson and Ruby Nash had heard that the Powder Ganger threat had been dealt with. The NCR troopers had come sometime in the morning to tell the residents that they could safely return to their homes. And from what they'd understood, the young girl who'd just walked in through the door was the cause of that. While she looked around, Ruby ran to her and pulled the girl into a smothering embrace. Sian stiffened, but kept herself from lashing out at the older woman.
"Oh, my sweet girl. Thank you for getting rid of these lowlifes for us. When the troopers told us some kid cleared out the Bison Steve, we couldn't believe it, but we saw the result with our own eyes. You did well, honey." Ruby was holding the girl at an arms length, examining her and talking at the speed of light. Sian didn't know how to react and looked to the man at the counter, hoping for some kind of help from him.
"Ruby, let the poor girl go, before y'break her shoulder. Name's Johnson, Johnson Nash. And the crazy person holding ya is my wife Ruby. Can't thank ya enough for clearin the trash from our home. Now, what can I do ya for?"
Sian freed herself from Ruby's iron grip and rummaged through her bag for the delivery note.
"You run the Mojave Express, right? I was a courier for the Express but I got jumped, and my delivery's been stolen. Can you tell me something about the job?"
Johnson took the slip from her and studied it carefully. He grumbled a bit, then flipped through a registry.
"I remember this one. A strange request from the start. This robot cowboy comes in here and hires a bunch of couriers to haul some junk clear across the desert. We had this one guy pegged for your delivery, you were only meant as a backup, y'know, but he comes in here, takes a look at the list and tells me he ain't doin the job. Looks me straight in the eye an says:' Let courier six do it.' Strange fella', gave up a lot of caps. I can't tell ya much more though, sorry girlie."
Sian felt a bit disappointed, but not too much. The robot Johnson was talking about had to be Victor, the securitron who had dug her out of the shallow grave. The girl hadn't talked to him much, finding the cheery disposition a mite unsettling, but she knew where to find him if her chase for the suited man went south. Sian looked at the small round robot lying on the counter. It looked broken, but the exterior seemed intact.
"Hey, Johnson.. You mind if I take a look at your buddy here? Maybe I can fix him up for you?" Sian was already prodding the little robot, not waiting for an answer.
"Hell, if y'can fix that thing up, it's all yours. Been thinking 'bout hauling that thing to the scrap yard, but y'know, old bones and all..."
Sian climbed onto a bar stool and started opening the metal casing. Just as she thought, the exterior was a bit banged up, but the real problem was the electronics inside. The girl once again let her instincts take over and she was pretty sure she could fix the wires. She just had to circumvent the broken parts. Asking for, and receiving some wires, Sian set to work. It took over an hour, in which she thought numerous times that the thing would blow up on her, but when she closed the hatch and powered the little robot up with shaking fingers, he simply beeped and shot upward, hovering a foot over the counter.
"Well, whaddaya know.. You actually did it. It's yours now, like I promised."
Sian smiled happily as she listened to the log playing from the metal orb, and when it finished, she started the companion protocol.
The Nash's invited Sian to eat something with them, and while the girl's mouth was being burned away by radscorpion stew from hell, the elderly couple and her talked about the lack of law in town. Sian shared their opinion that the NCR probably wasn't the best option, seeing how inefficient they'd been during the powder ganger situation. Not to mention, they still hadn't been able to retake their prison. Johnson told her about a man named Meyers, currently an inmate in the NCR correctional facility. Sian mulled over this information and thought that a hardened, experienced sheriff would be exactly what this town needed.
"You know, Hayes' owes me a favor.. I might be able to convince him, that retaking the prison by force is the right course of action. I'll go talk to him."
Sian said her goodbyes and was happy to escape Ruby's concoction of liquid fire. She marched over to the small camp and, once again, found the lieutenant in his tent.
"Hayes! I have a proposition for you."
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She sat him down at the table and somehow managed to convince the man, that retaking the NCRCF was a good idea. It took awhile, but finally he called for sergeant Lee, so the three of them could plan a covert mission to take out the powder ganger's leader and also, how to wrangle a pardon for Meyers out of the NCR.
Waiting for the cover of darkness, Sian and the sergeant had told the little group of soldiers the plan.
They would get to a ridge overlooking the prison, take out the guards in the watchtowers first. Then came the ones' patrolling the yard. Inside the buildings would be harder, but still they expected to make it through, with minimal loss of life. At least Sian hoped that. She didn't have a good first impression of NCR, but these people had been nice to her and she didn't want any of them to die. The first phase of the plan went without hitch. The silenced rifles raised no suspicion and the tower guards fell inward instead of over the railing. Sian herself got the man guarding the entrance, a clean shot to the throat. Inside however..
Close combat was always messier than ranged, especially since none of the soldier boys' had any melee skills. More than once she had to dodge a bullet from behind.
Should have fucking gone alone... I'll end up dead, if I don't watch out. Stupid children!
When the slaughter in the small room ceased, Sian was approached by a man who introduced himself as Meyers. She quickly found out that he'd been imprisoned for taking the law into his own hands, something the girl could empathize with.
"Listen, head towards Primm and go talk to Johnson Nash. He'll set you up with a place to sleep for now. I'm headed to the Outpost after this and I'm pretty sure I'll get that pardon for you."
Sian and sergeant Lee took point and, with their small team, swept the cell blocks and eliminated all the threats. They did find some interesting loot, though. The last building left, had to be where the ring leader of this little gang of fuckups was currently hiding out.
One of the younger soldiers with them, pulled a flash bang out of his pocket, eased out the pin and lobbed it through the door, which was hastily slammed shut by another trooper. When they heard it go off, count to three, they stormed in, using the confusion to their advantage. And while Sian preferred stealth, she couldn't help but enjoy cutting through the confused enemies. Beside her, the young man who'd thrown the light grenade was laughing joyously, clearly thrilled that his maneuver had such an effect. His happiness was contagious, really, and Sian laughed along with him.
Then the leader showed up, followed by his bodyguards. They were a lot more battle skilled and though as nails. The laughing boy next to her went down with a shout and Sian snarled like an animal. She had kept the beast under control all this time, but now, all reason abandoned her. Looking positively feral, the girl launched herself at the oncoming men with her machete. They backed away at her wildness, and through some kind of miracle, Sian hardly even got hurt. One guy with brass knuckles and an impressive Mohawk managed to land a blow to her ribs, but his cocky grin slid off his face when she didn't miss a beat, her blade driving through his throat.
It took some time, but soon every powder ganger lay dead upon the ground, along with their boss. Sian didn't care as for now. She walked back to where the soldier had fallen. His eyes were dead, but he still had a faint smile etched on his face. Sian didn't know what to say or do. This was a battle, casualties were to be expected. The rational part of her brain told her, this boy just hadn't been strong enough, but she still felt her eyes prick. He'd been so happy, that he had helped. So eager to fight. Without thinking, she grabbed the shawl covering half his face. She'd keep it, and she'd remember him, remember that battle meant, people die. And that sometimes, these people were on your side.
She shook herself and stood, joining the other soldiers in looting the building. The only thing of value to her was the book she found, Lying - Congressional Style, and some ammunition and caps. She also grabbed a pair of sunglasses, that looked to be in pretty good shape.
On the way back, they all were silent. Carrying their fallen comrade demanded for respectful silence, and Sian felt incredibly guilty. She'd suggested they take the prison, she'd led them there and it was her fault that a man was now dead. Sergeant Lee shot her a few glances, but didn't try to speak to her. When they'd reached the camp, she desperately wanted to hide herself away. But Lee pulled her to Hayes' tent, and with help of the lieutenant, explained to her that the outcome was not her fault.
"Nobody blames you for Cooper's death," Hayes told her gently. "The boy enlisted, knowing full well this could happen. I hate it just as much, but every fight demands casualties. And we retook the prison. Lee said, you guys wiped out the remaining convicts. That's a big thing. They'll stop harassing the town now and travelers are safer again. You did exceptionally well. And now, you need sleep. Come."
He led her over to his cot again, not listening to her protest. He'd take a bedroll on the floor for the night. Sian felt tired and her ribs hurt, but sleep didn't come to her for hours.
