Note from the author:
If there's anything in particular you all would want to see in the story, let me know. And let me know what you think of it so far and where you think it's going.
-the author
Chapter 8
Cass's feet protested as she paced down the Long 15. This was the largest caravan she's ever led, and it was only a tenth of her whole company. The three Brahmin behind her were carrying weapons and armor she had been commissioned to bring to Goodsprings and Primm. The half dozen guards were more than enough to protect the merchandise. They all wore combat armor and were armed with automatic rifles. The securitrons and cyber dogs with them weren't for her protection, but were part of the delivery.
When she reached Goodsprings she was greeted by the ever-cheerful Sunny Smiles, "Now why is the owner of a huge caravan company going on trips herself?"
"What can I say? You can take the girl off the road but can't take the road out of the girl."
"So what've ya brung for us?" Sunny asked.
"Some weapons, supplies, armor, and robots. As Leo promised."
"These can't all be for us," she replied.
"Only half. The rest is for Primm," Cass explained.
"Ohhh looky here," Easy Pete shouted as he pulled a grenade launcher from the Brahmin pack.
"Pete, you outta out that down before you get hurt," Sunny warned.
"Oh I'm fine, woman!" Pete replied, waving away her concerns.
"I better get out of here before something blows up," Cass said. "See ya, Sunny."
The sun was high in the sky when Steel Storm approached Nipton. Leo had assumed that it had remained empty after the Legion destroyed wiped out its populace. But upon his return, he saw that he was wrong.
Men and women loitered in the streets, armed to the teeth with decrepit guns and splintered baseball bats. When the denizens of the sinkhole noticed their guests, they had visibly mixed feelings. Some looked confused, others looked afraid, but most looked hostile. "Well shit," Leo said. "I think Nipton's a raider base now." The threat was confirmed when someone fired at Leo, missing him broadly. He drew his Holorifle and crouched in firing position. "Steel Storm, attack!"
As soon as he issued the order, his team opened fire on the group, save Veronica who began punching raiders. The battle was short. After several minutes of heavy gunfire, the raiders were all either wounded or dead. Although the raiders had numbers, they lacked unity, training, and decent weaponry. All of which Steel Storm had.
Leo saw some of his soldiers begin to put down the wounded. "No, leave them to suffer," he ordered.
"Yes sir," Sato replied.
The group left the town and continued making its way to Novac. The food they looted from Nipton would be the only meal they for before stopping to spend the night at Wolfhorn Ranch.
Boone had found a Happy Trails caravan that was headed to Vegas from Shady Sands. He signed on as a guard and left with the group the next morning. He'd been warned to leave his beret behind. It wouldn't be worth getting shot over, he reasoned.
The caravan made it into the demilitarized zone between NCR and the Empire. The gates were wide open but guarded heavily by securitrons. They made it through without incident and decided to spend the night in the base, where caravaneers were more than welcome.
They sat around a fire with other caravaneers trading stories and goods alike. When it got late, they turned in. The next morning, they set off on the long trip to Vegas.
Around the time Boone left for Vegas, Leo and his team left for Novac. He had radioed the Elder requesting a vertibird pick up from Helios One at 5:30 in the afternoon, so they had ample time to secure Novac's annexation.
The walk up Highway 95 was uneventful, so when the team reached Novac they were still full of energy.
The townspeople were easily swayed by Leo's words after they realized the Brotherhood had sent their securitron saviors during the Legion raid. He made the same promises he had to every other town, and cited his defeat of the mutants in RepConn as proof of his devotion to protecting the town. As the Steel Storm left the town and walked north, the Empire's hold on the Mojave solidified.
The team approached Helios One, guarded heavily by soldiers and securitrons who only backed away when the vertibird landed. Helios was almost the gravestone of the Brotherhood. Instead, it was a symbol of their strength. The solar plant had a link to a satellite that could launch laser attacks from space. This was to be used as last resort weapon should the Empire ever enter a war with the NCR.
As the team boarded the vertibird, Leo looked back at Helios One, and grew morose. He remembered how mad Arcade had gotten when he activated the weapon. Even after that he'd stayed with Leo. But he couldn't stay forever.
