Amber fitted with the radio on her pipboy some more when they had returned. Some of the Normandy crew were there to meet them when the shuttle landed in the ship's hanger to take care of their new cargo. Shepard then dismissed her and Garrus when we arrived to go file in the mission report. The ex express Courier went back to her little station in the hanger's back to unload her stuff. After checking and confirming that everything was exactly where she left them, she relaxed to clean her guns. At the same time, she tried the radio stations again for some music.
Sadly the galaxy did not know what music is.
After a while, Amber decided to settle on this one music station that played old Earth music from a century ago.
"A short man from Texas, a man of the wild, thrown into combat, where bodies lie piled."
"Hides his emotions, his blood running cold, just like his victories, his story unfolds!" The pipboy's radio emitted.
It wasn't old Roy Robers or Marty Ribbins, but Amber somehow fell in love with this band's drums' hard beat and liked their lyrics. After a quick search of the song and band told her these guys had a lot of music based on historical events. As a student of history, she'd liked that so she left it on that station.
As the music was playing, she worked on cleaning Ranger Sequoia and her AM-rifle. The big rifle was disassembled, and pieces spread out on the table's surface. Now she was working on the heavy revolver. As Amber cleaned, her mind went over ideas for some of her upcoming projects. Three of them to be precise, for when they reach the Cerberus shipment later.
The first was to make better quality bullets with the new materials. Having better rounds meant that Amber could do more in combat to support others. She asked EDI for a search on bullet recipes and received a list of them that she noted that Amber could use. The former Courier Six was not disappointed. She would be experimenting quite a bit with how much time was spent between missions with traveling.
Project two was to get Elijah's advanced LAER and replace some old materials inside. Amber was tired of having to waste a whole bunch of leftover supplies after a few skirmishes. The handheld energy weapon had proven itself a reliable tool in her arsenal against armored opponents and robots. Finding more permanent elements to substitute components less than pristine was a must if she continued to use it in the future.
Lastly was her power armor. The X-01 suit of Enclave tech was more advance than what the NCR or Brotherhood had. It's armor light and reliable and proven itself against whatever firepower the Legion threw at her. The oversized shoulders had provided ample spaced armor protection from various projectiles. With the tech of Mass Effect, she thought to add another one of those kinetic shields. Despite how she felt about them, they could reduce any damage done to the armor in the long run.
But she felt like she could do more with the power armor.
Typing away at her computer, she got on lone from Jacob. Amber transfers over some of the files and blueprints she stole from both the Gun Runners and Brotherhood scribes. Then put in some notes related to power armor modifications Amber found from the Enclave Remnant bunker. Her firepower, as of right now, was insufficient with the type of missions Shepard was asking them to go on. She didn't think that having Red Glare and her AM-rifle wouldn't be enough of a contribution. Sadly, having options of just long-range combat and large amounts of explosives wasn't going to cut it for every situation. With most of her equipment either in Big Mountain or in New Vegas, lost to her forever, it seems. She would have to make her a new arsenal and fast with how these missions would come.
Looking over the components for the heavy machineguns and Miniguns on the computer interface, plus a glance at the Remnant power armor.
Getting up from her spot, she felt a bit peckish and wondered what that Mess Sargent was cooking. She made for the elevator while several ideas formed up and began drawing up a plan of action.
"Then she had something that looked like an old tin can and tossed it at the mech but not before telling us to get to cover and don't look," Shepard recalled to his XO.
Miranda looked up at her screen and nodded along. "That alines up with the spike of radiation EDI got on the ship sensors."
Shepard became suddenly alert. "What radiation?"
"EDI picked up a spike Bata and Gamma radiation within the labs the team was in." Miranda brought up the reading of the ship sensors for the Commander to see himself. He scanned the text and did the number in his head.
"This was right when we were fighting the Blue Suns Commander and before the chemicals in the lab killed Okeer. The only thing I could think of is..."
"Amber's improvised explosive," Miranda finished.
"But, a radiation-emitting grenade? One with an explosive yield that can take out a heavy mech in a single blast." The implications for such a concept were ridiculous, Amber making one on the spot in the middle of a firefight.
Miranda provided her list of concerns to the Commander about Amber, and once again, Shepard took it under advisement. There seems to be a lot of unknowns surrounding the so-called Courier with a unique arsenal. One of which is just how dangerous this woman is if she could make an explosive that could admit a nuclear signature during a firefight? The next was where she got the atomic material. Stuff like that isn't something they sell at an antique gun show.
Parting with his XO and exiting her office, he went to the ship's Mess. There, sitting at the dinner table with a small crowd gathered around, was the unusual woman herself.
Amber still had on her armor from the mission but instead of her unique red-eye helmet. She had on a red beret with a patch on the front. Zeroing in on it, a picture of a bear skull over a set of cross rifles. The words "NCR 1st Recon" displayed on top. Shepard's mind ran through with what could NCR mean. With how official it looked, Amber must have been a member or had been a member of a professional organization.
Shepard would ask about later but was now focused on the gathering. From the looks of the group, they were all paying attention to the lone Courier. From the sound of things, she was telling a story. Shepard instantly spotted Garrus and Zaeed in the group along with three other members of the Normandy's crew. Two, he remembered seeing working on the combat deck and Gabby from engineering.
"So, after finding the note on the investigator's body telling me about a meet up with his informant, I get ambushed by two of the Casino staff outside the room." The Courier said to the spectators.
"That must of been fun," Engineer Gabby said before taking a drink. Amber nodded.
"Yep, it was like they were waiting for me. The staff didn't use guns on me. Instead, they used hard handled canes like maces. Sadly, I wasn't wearing my helmet at the time, and one got a lucky hit. Gave me a good bump in the head. Unlucky for him, he didn't hit hard enough."
"Trying to take you down quiet and nonlethal didn't work out for them, did it?" Garrus quipped.
"Stuff their bodies under the bed for room service to clean up." Zaeed barked a laugh before taking a swig out of his drink. "After that, I waited till about ten till for the meetup time at the motel 'spool. There the informant turns out to be one of the Casino lobby men and spills the beans on the rancher's son, and much more than I was hired for."
"What? Don't leave us in suspense." One of the crewmen said from the group.
"The guy explained that some of the older Casino staff members were part of some old cult of cannibals." Amber dropped the intel before taking a swig of her drink and shocking the crew.
"Bull. Shit." One crew member said first.
"In Vegas?!" Gabby said in disbelief.
The comments continued as Amber nodded. "Yep...Said to me that half of the old staff that runs the place were either former or legit cannibals under their fancy tuxes and top hats. After he explained it to me, we both got ambushed by an assassin. The lobby man got shot by a silencer before either of us could act. Before he could get me, I threw one of the canes I took from the Casino Staff that ambushed me earlier and threw his aim off. Allowed me the time to close the distance and tackle the guy to the ground before breaking his neck."
"After that, I went and hid the bodies. Wanting to keep a low profile for the time being. After eavesdropping on several conversations, I learned about a party of the casino staff later in the day. With everyone up top in preparation, I took the opportunity to head down to the kitchens to find more evidence. I got everything I needed from the top chef's freezer, the rancher's missing son."
"Was the kid was still alive?" Garrus asked.
Amber nodded. "He was tied up and gaged, but unharmed. Even his young punk attitude was left undamaged. It took me a few moments to not deck the self-entitled prick."
"Kids these days. Most rich parents can't raise them right." Zaeed remarked.
"True," Amber nodded in agreement. "After freeing him and explaining the situation to him. I formed a plan to expose the Canible leader. We then traped the head chef in his own freezer, and I cooked a recipe I found off to the side in the kitchen. After all that was done, I hailed the waiters and told them the dish was ready to serve. After the food was taken, we snuck from behind the waiter and entered a big party room. From our hiding spot behind the cocktail bar, we waited for when the culprit gave his speech. When he did and told the crowd that they were eating human meat, we jumped in and surprised the bastard and told the truth about everything to the people around us."
"Bet that was a shocker," one of the crewmen commented.
"How'd he react?" Gabby asked. "Not good, I'm guessing."
"You guess, right. The leader and several of his followers attacked us and were quickly taken down. I reunited the rancher's son with his father and the rest as they say." Amber said before downing the rest of her drink. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." She then got up and started to leave.
"I'll be back in my space doing some work." Amber turns to face Shepard. Hey Commander, let me know when the supply caravan gets here? Then I can really show you some of my better work." She didn't wait for a reply before heading off to the elevator. Leaving behind the crew to talk amongst themselves.
The Commander left for the starboard lounge. Figured he could get a drink a shot in before heading back to his cabin for some rest first. Then prep for the next mission at that purgatory prison.
Well here you go readers. Short Chapter compared to others I've worked in the past but wanted to get something out. This chapter would have been out sooner but been distracted with working two jobs. Giving me limited time to work on this.
Next time: the convict