Caution of danger made Artyom's travel to Novac slow. With Ranger Ghost being the only person with a gun, they were vulnerable targets for raiders to take advantage of. After all, once they smelled the wealth that was in his backpack, it would be a short engagement just by numbers alone. Ever since Angelique confiscated Cass and his weapons from their hands, the only weapon he had to defend himself was his trench knife and throwing knives. While they were good at what they did, it could do so much against armed opponents with firearms.
The trio continued their path on a road caught between two heights. Ghost noted the feature of the land. "This place, I don't like it." She said, with a degree of caution in her voice. "If someone decided to ambush us, they would shoot from up there. It's what I would do."
Artyom knew better than to question the knowledge of an NCR Ranger, but Cass spoke of it. "I doubt that the raiders would try to attack us." She said. "We could smell them a mile away."
The Ranger laughed at the prospect. "You're not wrong there. They're not known for smelling too good." Then the young man found himself at the center of attention. "I bet you Russian guys don't have to worry about bandits in those tunnels of yours."
As much as he would like to assure her such didn't exist in the Metro, experience told him better. "We do have bandits." The stalker answered. "Occasionally, groups like Hanza pay for some of their heavily armed guards to hunt them out and kill them all, but they always leave a few groups behind."
"Why leave the rest behind? Isn't it their duty to protect travel for caravans?"
"Hunting bandits is a good business and Hanza is stingy with money. They'll keep doing that as long as the profits benefit them in the long run."
"Damn," Cass commented. "I thought the NCR has its problems, but that is just bad."
"Welcome to the Metro." Artyom replied. "However, I think Hanza is far better than what the Nazis and the Communists do from what I've heard."
"I've heard of Communists before from talking with a few guys from the Followers, never knew who they were, but they were considered evil people in the pre-war days."
"I only know through rumors, but the Communists like to spread the idea that the Metro is equal for all. There is no rich people in their ranks, but neither are there poor people as well. While it sounds good to many people, I've stories of the secret police going to people's homes and making them disappear for criticizing them. Thankfully, I live in the far stations and they keep themselves busy fighting the Nazis."
"The Nazis?" Ghost wondered. "I've heard of them through some stalker people, but I don't know a damn thing about them."
Cass was quick to help the Ranger. "Based on what Artyom says, they're worst than the Legion."
"Worst than the Legion?" She scoffed at the idea. "The Legion is known for many things, what do the Nazis have that beat the Legion in pure cruelty?"
"I've heard stories that they use prisoners as target practice for recruits." Artyom answered. "I can't say that I've met one, but hope I'll never do."
"So why do they fight the Communists?"
"Based on the stories of some others, ideology. My stepfather once said that you can't put a Communist and a Nazi in a same room without coming back to find them trying to choke each other."
"Shit, those guys are not people I'm looking forward to."
He shared the woman's view, he wouldn't want to meet them as well. Once the road made the trio escape from the small pass they went through, Artyom saw bodies of the dead on the road with a whiff of rotten flesh. It made him desire to put on his gasmask, but to lose face in front of the women was not something he could ignore.
"Hold up, let me check the bodies." Ordered Ghost as she made her way towards the first body lying underneath the sun. "These guys don't look like prospectors, more like raiders."
"How can you be so sure?" Cass wondered.
"Hair styles. Raiders are known for that, especially the women." The Ranger inspected a body of a man wearing plated armor before she turned him over. "These were quick clean shots. I guess they stumbled with someone they couldn't kill."
Artyom and Cass were quick to join her. The sight of a sub-machine gun caught his attention as he took hold of it and began checking the man's pockets. There had to be ammo around. "Cass, help me scavenge some of these guys." He said, feeling bullets in the dead man's pockets.
Relieved that they were able to discover weapons, Cass was quick to join him. "Damn, it's good to finally not worry about our own safety." She replied.
"You two better hurry." Ghost commented. "If the Legion was able to hit Nipton, they probably have a base of operations somewhere."
The trio had set up a campfire with a tire and some wood found by the raiders. It was crude way to live, but none of them complained. Artyom pulled out his journal and wrote his thoughts away with bits of squirrel meat in his mouth. Moments when he needed to pause from writing, he saw Ghost cleaning out her rifle while Cass drank away with bottles of whiskey in her arms.
Cass seemed happy with herself with all of that alcohol; however, Bourbon taught him that it was a sign of someone forgetting their past. Perhaps she had something that made her not think about her life. As for Ghost, her skin tone was strangely too white to be natural. He heard from doctors that it was a mutation that plagued people long before the bombs fell. Although he was curious, it wouldn't be appropriate to ask.
Soon, the Ranger began to lay down with her rifle in hand. "Artyom, can be on watch duty?" She asked.
"Yes." He answered without question. Soon the woman turned over on her mattress and slept. "See you in the morning." Afterwards, he went back to writing his thoughts in his journal, noting the Mojave through his very own eyes and how different it was to the Metro.
His concentration to write didn't make him notice the caravaner coming close to him. "What are you writing about?" She asked.
"Nothing really." Artyom answered.
With a bottle of whiskey in hand, she sat beside him. "Someone doesn't do anything for no reason. There has to be a reason why you decided to write. Everyone has a reason, including you."
He remained silent.
"Since you're not willing to share your reasons, I better tell you why I drink. Ask?"
"Why do you drink?"
She smiled. "Aside from drinking away my sorrows, I drink because somehow I want to feel alive when my moment comes. That is my reason. It is what helps me get through the days and sleep through the nights. Well… that is what I like to think why I do."
Artyom was surprised when he saw her grimace in pain as she grabbed her chest. "Are you okay?"
It was momentary as he noticed her relief a moment later. "Yeah, don't worry about me. There is nothing you could do about it."
"What makes you say that?" He wondered.
"It's in the family." Cass answered him. "My ma told me that my dad had problems. Like father like daughter, I get his drinking and his heart problems." Then she took another swig at her whiskey bottle, only that she drank it empty. "That should do it for the night." She burped before quietly laughing to herself. "You never answered my question, why do you write?"
Artyom looked up at the night sky, seeing the stars for the first time. "I know sometimes at some point, I might day at anytime and anywhere." He answered. "The Metro is a harsh place and my mother was one of its first victims after the bombs fell. In a blink of an eye, my childhood was erased as my mother and I descended into the Metro for safety. The world we-I once lived is gone." Then he lowered his head in shame. "Whatever possible future I could have gotten was extinguished." A quick glance to his journal. "The notes just help with… my sanity."
"You were a pre-war survivor?"
He nodded his head. "I was a boy twenty years ago when it happened."
"I'm sorry. It must have been harsh."
"It was." He replied. "Aren't you going to sleep?"
"I would, but it takes some time for me to sleep after a long time."
A thought from a long time ago made him consider this option. "Would a lullaby help?"
"What are you? Six?"
"It's in Russian, so you might not understand it."
"If I don't sleep in the next ten minutes, don't even suggest the idea again."
"Very well." Artyom replied.
As Cass rose from beside the stalker, Artyom sung his native tongue while Cass found comfort in sleeping on her mattress. It was a long time since he heard it from his mother's own lips as he sung the lullaby, he resisted the urge the cry.
When the campfire slowly died away as Artyom's eyes adjusted to the darkness.
He wanted to sleep, but Cass and Ghost were relying on him as they remained quietly. Occasionally, he could hear their ramblings such as Cass trying to chase a bottle of whiskey in her dreams, but it was amusing to him. As time went on, the young man began to get a feel of his weapon. While it would be nice to have that PipBoy tell him what kind of weapon he was using, he could tell that this submachine gun was compact with easy control.
While the man continued to inspect the weapon with his hands, the stalker heard a crack behind him. One of the benefits of keeping broken shards of glass surrounding the entire camp was the direction the intruder game from.
Artyom turned around with his submachine gun in hand as he saw five shadows appear in front of him with one of them descending upon him. Before his assailant could get the opportunity, he pulled the trigger and watched his attacked be riddled with bullets. The damage was enough to kill him while he turned his full attention onto the others. There was still enough ammo to kill their attackers, but as he pulled the trigger his weapon jammed. "Shit!" Artyom swore to himself.
The assailants revealed themselves to the dying campfire of men clad in red before a kick was the last thing he saw.
Screaming, it was all he could hear as he opened his eyes. He watched in horror as his cheek was pressed against the ground. Artyom tried to get up, but his wrists were bonded.
Cass and Ghost were fighting for their lives as the assailants tried to take advantage of their situation. However, the caravaner stabbed her attacker with a broken whiskey bottle while Ghost was punched back against two men clad in red. "No…" He weakly called out. His companions tried to hold out against their strong foes, but Ghost showed signs of succumbing to the beatings of the men.
It worsened when Ghost was screaming as one of the men grabbed her by the hair while the other began to sit atop of her. He was helpless to stop this.
Artyom noticed the fourth man step in front of him. Then the fourth man fell to one knee in front of him. "I don't know whether to congratulate you on handing over such beautiful slaves to the Legion or strangle you for killing my man, but I know that Caesar has a great interest in you." The stranger began. "I don't know why he would want a profligate, but I will show you the price of those who defy the Legion. Watch."
No, he wouldn't give this man the satisfaction. Fear entered his mind about the fate of Cass and Ghost while he wanted something to happen. There had to be a way to help his companions from their demise at these men.
Then a familiar voice assured him. 'Save… life…' Artyom forgot about the Dark One and he was here.
A blade was planted in front of his face with the stranger talking to him. "I said look!" He ordered.
A smile fell on Artyom's lips as he turned his head and looked up at his captor. "Go to hell."
The man was about to smash him with his boots, but there was a familiar feeling the stalker knew a long time ago. He couldn't know what it was, but it was there. A rush of wind flew over his body with a ringing Artyom could tolerate. However, the man who wanted him to witness his companions being taken advantage of was not on his knees in tears. "No, please stay away from me."
The rest of the assailants abandoned their would be victims and walked up towards the stalker. "What sorcery did you do, profligate?" Superstition? That was something to take advantage of. Another gust of wind flew in their faces as the man who was being denied by Cass had succumbed to the power of the Dark One. Where it was, Artyom had no clue, but it was doing something.
As for the two remaining assailants, they looked around in fear as they readied their weapons. One with a sledgehammer and the other with a machete. They were not going to survive the next engagement.
A dark figure appeared out of thin air, surprising the attackers with its tall form. The man with the machete tried to stab the creature, but a brief flash made it disappear for a moment and return to reality behind the man. Then its hands quickly lunged towards the assailant, knocking him out of the fight.
The Dark One was quick to focus its full attention on the last attacker and swiped its hands over him. The mutant's power was not something to ignore as the man fell before it and Artyom was glad that the Dark One saved him. It would have been impossible to kill these men without touching Ghost or Cass in the process. 'You are safe…'The creature glanced over to him and was about to walk away, but loud gunshots echoed from behind its back.
Despite its powers and its reputation, it could save it from the many dangers of the wasteland. The Dark One fell to the ground as one of the attackers rose from the ground with satisfaction. "True to Caesar, die!"
"Cyka blyat!" Artyom swore to himself as he tried to get himself out of the bondage.
The stranger aimed his revolver at him, but the buttstock of a rifle had made its mark on the back of his head.
Ranger Ghost was off the ground as she began to beat the man to death with her own hands. At the same time, Cass ran up to him with a knife in hand. "Artyom, hold still. I'm going to get you out!" The young man felt relief as the cowgirl freed him from the irritation the ropes brought him.
Ghost aimed her rifle at the last survivor and shot him dead. "Fuck you, Legion piece of shit." She said angrily, with her clothes damaged in the fighting.
Freed from captivity, Artyom began to check the vitals of the Dark One to the best of his ability. No, he had to make sure the Dark One was not going to die. The creature saved his life once, he had to return the favor.
Cass stood beside him, looking at the corpse in his hands. "Artyom, what is this thing?"
[It's a Dark One.] He answered.
"Could you repeat that?" Strange, what he said didn't make any sense to them, but he could understand them. Why did this happen?
As the stalker stood beside the creature's body, he felt the rhythm in its chest fade away. Artyom had seen a Dark One die once - at the hands of Hunter. While its heartbeats slowly disappear, a strange voice spoke to him. 'Need… voice… cannot… help…' What did this creature mean? Then a connection was made - the Dark One helped him understand his companions. It's hand reached out to touch his hand while its eyes stared at him. 'Here… it… helps… but find… others… Stalkers - yes… find stalkers…' The Dark One succumbed to its wounds as its strength failed it. Before Artyom was a dead Dark One.
"Hey, can you hear me?!" Cass shouted, grabbing his attention. "What the fuck is going on?"
[The Dark One, it saved us.]
"Cut the Russian and speak English!"
[A Dark One saved us!] It wasn't working, she couldn't understand. He had to find a way to communicate with her. He pointed at the body of the Dark One before redirecting his finger towards his mouth.
"Why can't you talk?"
He repeated his motions with greater emphasis, but the woman couldn't understand. Artyom noticed Ranger Ghost leave the body of one of the attackers as she stormed for his attention with her rifle aimed at him. "You were supposed to be on watch! What the hell were you doing - sleeping?!"
Was the Ranger blaming him for what had happened? [No, my gun jammed.] He replied.
"Speak up!"
Shit! Ranger Ghost can't understand him and now she could kill him on the spot in the middle of nowhere. He had to convince her that his weapon was jammed. Perhaps he needed to show her? Artyom glanced over to his submachine gun and pointed at the gun's loading mechanism.
"What the hell are you trying to say?" Ghost questioned. "Was your gun jammed?"
He nodded in acknowledgement.
She lowered her rifle and glanced towards his weapon. "It got jammed in the fight." Then the Ranger looked around as Artyom pointed towards his first kill during the night. "There were five guys. You killed one of them, but your gun jammed before you could get the others."
[Yes.]
"Why didn't you tell us to wake up?"
He didn't have a reason to save him from the blame. The stalker lowered his head in shame, he had that opportunity to warn them.
"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you." Ghost replied.
To Artyom's surprise, the caravaner confronted her. "Hey, his gun was jammed. What would you do if you were on watch?"
"He failed to warn us, Cass. If it weren't for that thing, we would have become the Legion's babymakers." She glanced back at the young man and turned away from them. "We better leave, there might be more patrols nearby."
[I'm sorry...] He commented.
"Whatever the hell you just said, I don't give a shit. You nearly got us killed." The venom in her voice was difficult to ignore.
While the Ranger began to pack her gear, Cass placed a hand on his shoulder. "We just got lucky, but Ghost is right. You nearly got us killed." Then she glanced over to the body of the Dark One. "I hope you don't let something like that happen again."
He had to find a way to understand. "Stalker…"
"What?"
"Find… stalkers…" Artyom answered. "Help… understand…" He struggled trying to speak those words. Perhaps being around the company of non-Russian people helped, but it was difficult to speak these strange words in English. "Novac…"
"Ghost, I think we should hurry to Novac. There is something wrong with Artyom."
Author's Note: I was about to make a new side story, but I didn't really have anything in mind. As for the song Artyomsung, it's a lullaby that was shown in the live-action for Metro: Last Light. Another mention is that the words in the brackets is Artyom talking in Russian. I could try to use translate, but I don't want to offend anyone Russian by mutilating their language.
Mandalore the Freedom: Unlike the canon timelime, Artyom is going to have a bit of characterization involved throughout the story as it progresses. Now his companionship with Cass is something I have been thinking about for some time and Cass's age was one of the few things I had to consider. While I normally wouldn't be so sure it would be possible, I think about the canon version of the Courier and one of the developers consideration to have the Courier accidentally marry her. Now Ghost will have a slight story background and considering how Cass talks about her, I have a feeling that they know a lot 'bout each other.
Although the Legion has the notorious reputation in warfare and the NCR with its troop numbers and veteran Rangers, the Polis Rangers and the rest of the Metro have plenty of advantages that shouldn't be ignored. The Polis Rangers are pre-war survivors who consist of ex-Spetsnaz, ex-FSB/KGB, ex-Army personnel. They have a military experience that outweighs anything the Legion and the NCR has. Not to mention, Soviet engineering and nightvision equipment.
The problem that the NCR and the Legion have with their weapons is the simple fact that they need to have a hefty supply to replace deteriorating equipment. For the NCR, they have the Gun Runners while the Legion have to scavenge for theirs. Although the Metro has a knack for makeshift weapons such as the Shambler or the Hellbreath, the Kalashnikovs still hold up their reputation to withstand plenty of hell before it breaks.. To take it even further, the dirty ammunition in the Metro is what the Fallout factions consider bulk ammo, which is below them while the Metro factions have no problems with it.
As someone from a Spacebattles thread about a Metro/RWBY cross about the Kalashnikov:
"Fuck you, I'm not made to be pretty."
On the political side, the NCR would be interesting in the Polis Rangers in the same way they were interested in the Desert Rangers of the Mojave. However, they would probably see them act more like the Followers of the Apocalypse in how they view technology, which might make Polis clash with the Brotherhood of Steel based on their views.
About the political ideologies, the Followers and the NCR will finally see Nazism and Communism first-hand since pre-war America was very anti-Nazi and anti-Communist, but to see those ideologies with their own eyes would bring insight about America's past while learning why Polis hasn't gotten rid of them.