Chapter 23: A Needed Plan
The thing about shootouts is that they almost never go in the direction you planned. Most of the time that plan involves killing all of the people that are trying to do the same to you. It shouldn't really be an idea too difficult for anyone to comprehend.
But despite their will to keep on fighting, Ulysses, Courier Six, and Joshua Graham were ultimately defeated by the overwhelming numbers of the Henchmen. But they would not be joining the many corpses on the club's floor. After all, someone wanted them still alive.
Each of them was knocked unconscious, as well as brought to the point of nearly taking their last breath. The word alive can certainly be stretchered. It only seemed right to give them all a few extra kicks and punches with how many men they killed.
By the time the Police arrived to conduct an investigation on who or what was making such a ruckus, everything had already been completely cleared out. There was little to no evidence that a fight had even occurred in the first place.
All of the Police inside and outside of Junior's was enough to get the attention of two Huntresses that were currently seeking a little bit of revenge. They used the scene to predict that Courier Six was somewhere close by. And from how things looked, she was still causing trouble.
However the theory that they devised was an incorrect one. At least the part about Six being near their own current location. She and her two Companions were already halfway across the entire City by the time the Police had showed up. More specifically somewhere that was vacant and devoid of life.
Whoever requested that the three be brought to them clearly wanted their meeting to be a private one with zero disturbances. They also didn't want to take any chances with the prisoners themselves. Which is why each of them was quickly chained up to a seat.
Unlike his two Companions Joshua required a very absurd amount of restraining. He had managed to fully wake up while a few of the Henchmen were trying to tie him down. It didn't end well for the men who were expecting just another simple transport job.
Even though he managed to increase his kill count, Joshua was put right back into a state of unconsciousness. Someone got a lucky hit on him while his back was turned. Part of him wished that he still had the fire of the Burned Man flowing inside of him. He could achieve almost anything with his help.
Entire hours would pass before any of them would come back to the real world. This time it was Ulysses who received the pleasure. Though it's doubtful he would refer to it as pleasurable. Upon awakening he was also burdened with all of the pain from his previous battle.
Despite his impressive resilience it was still too much for him to handle. Even the last of the Marked Men did not put up that much of a fight. He wasn't even hit once during that battle. Only thanks to the Courier of course, who used her impressive armour to shield him from any kind of damage.
She was unable to do the same thing in a simple dress. As a result each of them had been shot, stabbed, or even punched a large number of times. They would pull through of course, they had to. After all, that's all part of the plan.
Aside from Graham and Six, no one else was in the room with Ulysses. Not one to waste precious opportunities like this, he began to quickly but even more so carefully scan the room around him. There was nothing of interest for him to spot. The room looked like one you could easily find in the Mojave.
Of course he knew they were still very far from getting home. This world's air had a very distinctive taste to it. Unlike the air found in Vegas this was far too clean. Looking to his left Ulysses spotted Joshua, who had just been recently knocked back out.
And to his right was the Courier, who was out colder than cold. The man of the Divide attempted to gather their attention. Speaking through painful grunts and moans, he managed to get only a few words out. ''...Courier... Graham...'' But it was far from being enough to wake them up.
Joshua continued to make no sounds at all. But Six did make a response. It just wasn't directed at Ulysses. ''Veronica, stop.'' She said in a very seductive voice that was followed up with a small giggle. ''You know how ticklish I am.'' Ulysses sighed, realizing that she was in the middle of a dream. From the sound of things she didn't want to wake up either.
The chains that were wrapped around his hands only tightened as Ulysses desperately attempted to break free. Eventually they began to dig into his skin and cause excessive bleeding. Not wanting to die from a slow death, he ceased his escape attempt.
It was clear that there was no way that he was going to get out of his current predicament. Maybe when the others wake up he can ask them to try the same thing? Or at the very least they could all come up with a plan to get back to the Mojave.
Finally after the passing of what felt like hours to Ulysses, Courier Six and Joshua Graham awakened. They were both in an equal state of well being as Ulysses. Six wished that she still had her Pip-Boy so she could inject herself with a Stimpack or two.
All of a sudden Graham began to cough up a large quantity of blood. Some of it managed to stain the new bandages on his face. He wouldn't be speaking for awhile, that was for sure. However Six quickly began to take full advantage of the ability.
Looking over at Ulysses, she asked him for his opinion on their battle. ''Pretty good fight, huh?'' She said with a grin. ''Also did I say anything in my sleep? Because if I did I'd like for both of you to immediately forget every word of it.''
Ulysses felt like screaming at the top of his lungs. She actually considered this to be a good time to start laughing and cracking jokes? Joshua felt the exact same way. Only he refrained from the whole yelling part, still unable to say a word without losing a few gallons of blood.
Wishing that his hands were free so that he could slap her, Ulysses turned to the Courier and yelled right in her face. ''Jokes, now!?'' It scared Six considerably to the point where she almost screamed herself. Ulysses decided that he wasn't going to hold back and refrain from using any harsh words.
He looked at her and began to scream words at her again. ''All those lies of-'' Those four words was all he was going to get out. Something hard and very heavy connected with the back of his head. If it wasn't for all of the adrenaline pumping through his body, he would've gone right back into a state of unconsciousness.
Graham and Six both turned around to see who the culprit behind the attack was. It was a rather tall and strong looking man. He was wearing a black and white suit with a tie. But the thing that caught the most attention was the huge Bazooka that he was carrying. The same one that gave Ulysses a concussion.
For some reason the man looked like he was pissed off. Like he just saw someone run over his dog then back up a few more times just to make sure they finished the job. Before any questions could be thrown his way, he took another swing, this time it was Joshua who took the hit.
Six gritted her teeth upon observing someone fight a defenseless man. Especially one that was her friend. Attacking an enemy that can't even fight back is only a move that a coward would resort to. There's more honor in just surrendering or retreating.
Before she could express just how angry she was, she noticed that he was now standing directly in front of her. He had a large smile on his face, a very evil one too. With all of his might he raised his Bazooka as high as possible and swung at Courier Six.
She closed her eyes in response, waiting for the connection and all of the pain it would bring alongside it. A few seconds passed and Six felt no such connection. Opening her eyes she saw that a new individual had entered the room just in time. And that same person was now the one holding the Bazooka.
There was no doubt in Courier Six's mind that the woman now standing before her was the most stunning woman she had ever seen. Her outfit was an absolutely beautiful mix of Crimson and Yellow. The same description could be used to describe the rest of her.
For some reason she looked annoyed with the man that was about to crush the Courier's skull. ''I though I told you that I didn't want a scratch on them?'' She said in a rather quiet voice. All the same her tone and voice greatly frightened the man. ''Tell me, why are they in this current shape, Junior?''
Junior gulped and gave an answer that he hoped would insure his survival. ''They started shooting up the place when we tried to bring them in.'' There was a whole lot of shaking going on in his voice. Everyone took notice of it. ''What were my guys supposed to do, just fight back and die?''
Her eyes now glowing from anger, the woman slammed Junior to the ground using the Bazooka. The act almost made Six's jaw drop. ''I didn't tell you to point guns at them in the first place, did I?'' As a desperate final attempt Junior raised his hand in the air and began to beg for some level of forgiveness.
Unfortunately for him when you fuck up this bad you don't get the privilege of second chances. The woman slammed her foot into his throat, slowly choking the life out of him. Nobody else in the room could really make any complaints about the brutal sight.
This still was the same man who was probably planning on beating all of them to death with a fucking Bazooka. With a very loud and a very final snapping sound, Junior was taken away from this world. Turning away from his corpse, the woman looked over to her three prisoners.
She knelt down in front of Six. ''I'm Cinder.'' She said, casually revealing her name just after killing a man. It was a very unique name for the Courier to hear. And it was also a very pretty one. ''Cinder Fall. Sorry about Junior and how his friends treated you so poorly.''
It was likely that she wanted to continue to explain everything to the three Companions even further. But Ulysses pointed out a flaw in her claim of meaning no harm. ''You were the one who wanted us brought before you. This was your doing, as yours alone.''
Cinder continued to assure them that she had zero intentions on anyone getting injured. Taking a seat on the only other chair in the room, she told them that, ''I specifically requested that you all be brought here both alive and unharmed. I needed you all to be at your best fighting shapes. Our friend here clearly misunderstood my directions. Luckily no one will ever have to suffer from his stupidity ever again.''
The Courier was starting to become intrigued with what Cinder had to say. It also felt like there was some kind of offer going to be proposed to the Companions. But while she was still tied up there was essentially nothing that she could do.
Seeing that they didn't have any questions at the moment, Cinder continued to explain the current situation and how she hoped things would proceed. ''I know this may be difficult for you all to believe. But I'm the one that had you summoned to our world in the first place.''
Everyone's eyes widened, Six's especially. The idea certainly dived into the realm of unbelievable. Why would you even send for someone if you're just going to have them taken prisoner a few days later? Now there were some actually questions that required answering.
''You sent that fancy guy to to Primm then?'' Courier Six said, recalling what little she remembered about her encounter with Torchwick. The only thing she could really recall aside from his strange attire was the fact that he was a pretty big asshole.
Cinder nodded before getting out of her chair and walking behind the three. ''Roman was given the task of bringing you here as quickly as possible. Unlike your two friends here I understand that you aren't a very big fan of walking. So we devised a plan to help you travel here instantly.''
How they knew about the Transportalponder was fairly obvious. Back in the Mojave Six had been spending most of her time at Big Mountain. She was hoping to find someway to get rid of the cloud at the Sierra Madre. If she could do that then what little was left of the Ghosts would have nowhere left to hide.
Despite her lack of any real intellect the Courier was far from being just another idiot in Vegas. In fact Mobius himself stated that she was almost certainly the brightest mind of the entire 23rd century. Coming from him that actually meant quite a lot to her.
The rest of the scientists however stated that they had much more important work that required all of their attention. But Mobius was able to see all of the potential in Courier Six's plan, and more importantly all of the good it could bring.
What idea she had come up with was in many ways similar to Elijah's. Except without the whole mass murdering part. With all of those vending machines the Mojave would essentially have an endless source of supplies. And with the Holograms by their side they'd be able to protect everyone.
Everyone agreed that it was a good plan. In fact it was a great plan. It just had one major problem. Mobius and the Courier kept taking Mentats to increase their thinking ability. As a result they spent more time getting high than they did coming up with any ideas.
She'd get it done eventually. It would be nice to see Christine and Dog again. Or whatever he chose to call himself now. Cinder looked directly into Ulysses's eyes. She could tell right away that it would take a lot of effort to convince him to work for her.
Always one to give thanks when it's due, Six gave just that to the woman who had her kidnapped. ''I guess I can appreciate the consideration.'' She said, Cinder smiling and nodding at the kind words. She was the exact opposite of the man of the Divide. She would be more than easy to get on her side.
There was no way that Joshua was going to be able to ask any questions, not that he even had any in the first place. Cinder looked at him and gave him his own apology for his especially critical condition. ''Hopefully we'll be done here soon. After that I'll have someone take a look at you. Again I have to apologize for what those idiots did to all of you. It was foolish of me to expect them to be able to preform a very simple task.''
Anyone who would dare try to take the Malpais Legate, the only man who survived the fires of the Divide when they first awakened, and Courier Six, had definitely earned the title of being called an idiot. Of course that was a little unfair seeing as these men knew nothing about their existences before they were hired to capture them.
''You ask that we work for you?'' Ulysses said, his voice going back to its casual self. Cinder nodded and awaited for him to continue. ''No reason for us to believe you, no matter what you say. What would you even have to offer in return?''
Before Cinder could answer the question and begin the careful process of bargaining, Six began to struggle in her chair. ''Could you please let me out of this?'' She asked with a little bit of pain in her voice. ''I'm not used to being tied up, not like this anyway.''
Pulling out a short knife, Cinder began to cut the rope to her chair. She trusted that the Courier's curiosity would keep her from attacking or trying something stupid, but all the same she decided to stay on guard. She also wasn't about to cut anyone else free.
Rubbing her very sore wrists, Six continued to grunt with pain. She gave the go ahead for Cinder to resume talking. After clearing her throat she did just that. ''What I offer the three of you is both simple and complex. I offer to improve your own world.''
She had everyone's curiosity, but now she also held their attention. ''I've seen your world only a few times before. What kind of place it is. If it wasn't for the few people like you I would say that everyone there should just be exterminated. But you three, as well as a few others have given me hope that my perspective can be altered.''
Eyes began to widen, and the obvious question had to be asked. ''How exactly would you be able to help improve Vegas?'' The Courier asked the woman she was now standing beside. Cinder responded by handing her what looked like a file of some kind.
She immediately gasped upon opening it. It was the same file that she and Mobius had created at Big Mountain. The same one that contained the plan involving the Madre and all of its wonders of the Old World. And somebody had made a few modifications.
It now talked about some sort of full scale attack on the city of Vale. An attack that Ulysses, Joshua, and the Courier would be leading. An attack that would eventually take them all the way to the Academy. An attack that would be supported by the...
''No...'' Courier Six whispered, all sorts of feelings going through her head. She began to hear loud and heavy footsteps from behind her. He said they'd see each other on the battlefield again. But there was no way they'd be fighting side by side.
Turning around she was now face to face with the Terror of the East. Behind him stood quite a large number of Legionaries. Joshua finally had the strength he required to escape upon seeing the Legate. Upon breaking out of his chains he rushed to the Courier's side and pushed her out of the way.
He attempting to make a strike at the Legate, but he had used up far too much of his energy. As a result he did virtually no damage to the man who took over his title. Lanius didn't bother to fight back. He understood that it would just be an unnecessary attack.
Six, who was now on the floor, received a helping hand from the Legate. Despite her hatred for the Legion and everyone who would dare join the group of maniacs, she was in no condition to refuse any help. Accepting the extended hand she was quickly pulled up back on her feet.
''I made a promise to you that one day I would return from the East and continue the Legion's grand conquest.'' He said, his voice somehow sounding more intimidating and deeper than ever before. ''Thanks to the efforts of Cinder we have been granted that chance. The land known as Vale will be our greatest challenge yet. The Legion will now be remembered by the New World as well as this one.''