Chapter 3
Novac was likely even smaller than Goodsprings. It was merely a motel, a few houses, and a rest point for traveling caravans to get a good night's rest before entering Legion territory. It's biggest claim to fame, however, was the general store at the motel. It was built into a prewar tourist trap called Dinky The Dinosaur, a massive fiberglass T-Rex carrying an equally massive thermometer. Eddie had never been there, having never left the area around Goodsprings, Primm, Nipton, and the NCRCF, so it was an adjustment for him to see the small settlement and it's claim to fame. Eddie entered the front desk while Clara asked around for information.
"Welcome to Novac sweetie, what's your name?" the woman at the desk asked.
"Name's Edward Morris, call me Eddie. I take it you run this place?" Eddie responded. The woman gave a nod.
"Yep, I'm Jeannie May, owner and proprietor of the Novac Motel. Do you need a place to rest?" She asked. Eddie checked his watch, it was certainly getting late, night would soon come and that was certainly not the time wanted to be wandering the Mojave. Plus, it would be nice to sleep in a bed instead of lying on the ground covered with a poncho liner.
"Yeah, sure, how much?" Eddie asked, taking out his sack of caps and an NCR money clip.
"We take NCR Dollars and caps." Jeannie stated. "One hundred caps or two hundred fifty NCR." Eddie placed the sack of caps on the desk. Jeanie placed them in a floor safe, locking it with a key in her pocket. She then turned around and plucked a key off a wall of them.
"Room 201, it's on the far left of the second floor." Jeanie stated. "You're in luck, it's our last room."
"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, how many beds are there? I'm traveling with a companion, you see." Eddie asked.
"Just one, a queen sized. There's a sofa too, if you aren't comfortable sleeping with your friend." Jeannie stated.
"Thank's, it'll work out." Eddie said with a smile.
"You're welcome dearie, have goodnight's rest now." Jeanie stated.
"You too ma'am." Eddie stated. This earned him a warm smile from Jeanie and a compliment on his manners. Eddie stretched as he stepped out, Clara approaching with two bottles of beer.
"These are both for me, in case you're asking." Clara chuckled. Well, the anesthetics would be long gone by now, but best play it safe.
"One, I'll take the other." Eddie sighed. "I'm only nineteen, but I can take a bit of alcohol."
"I'm twenty and I can binge on whiskey without blacking out, what's your point?" Clara stated. "Not as old as I thought you'd be honestly, how's that work?"
"Well, I've been alive for nineteen years, does that answer your question?" Eddie stated. "How are you twenty and seemingly able to drink enough booze to floor a deathclaw?"
"I don't remember much, but I spoke with an ex-NCR Ranger living out here. Jogged my memory a bit." Clara stated. "Started when I was eighteen…"
Clara Shepherd stood in formation with her fellow volunteers, the tan uniform certainly not a good choice for the scorching Anaheim sun. Her hair was tied back in a neat bun, as were the other female recruits. She considered herself lucky, the males had to shave all of it off, at least one a feek during the training. Today was graduation day, where they would be getting their assignments.
"Lastly, Shepherd Clara, you will be receiving additional training. You have been selected to train with the NCR Rangers." She couldn't believe it, she was going to be a Ranger! They were the best of the best, and she was going to be one of them! "Report to Ranger Markov for your first training session." Clara gave a salute, then was dismissed to the Ranger barracks. Clara jogged there, finding herself standing in front of an older Ranger dressed in jeans and a white button up shirt with a red star pinned to his chest.
"Ah, hello Ms. Shepherd, I am told you're here for Ranger training, yes?"
"Yes, Ranger Markov." Clara stated. Ranger Markov looked over Clara, noticing the twitching in heres, her hands, and especially looking at her pupils.
"You won't be able to take chems or drink during the training, are you sure you want to do this?" Ranger Markov asked.
"Absolutely, Ranger Markov." Clara stated.
"Good. Get into a set of Ranger fatigues and meet me outside of the base's main gates at 2100. Dismissed." Ranger Markov stated. Well, looks like training would be rough, but Clara could take it, she was going to be a Ranger, without a shadow of a doubt!
Clara hated her life. It had been a year since her failure to pass Ranger training, and now she had enough of patrols, shitty work orders, and being thrown to the desert. She was now in the regional headquarters, awaiting her discharge. The doors opened and a lieutenant approached her.
"Corporal Shepherd, given your service record and disciplinary cases, we've determined to give you an other-than-honorable discharge." The lieutenant stated. "Get into cits, we'll collect your gear. Keep your shotgun and handgun if you want, we got plenty of those." Clara nodded and left to change. She walked down the streets of the town, not sure what to do anymore. Soon enough, she spotted a Mojave express office. A sign out front of the office read: 'Couriers wanted! Good pay!' Clara shrugged, it was her best option at this point, may as well.
"So you used to be an NCR Trooper but were dishonorably discharged, yikes." Eddie sighed.
"What about you, where are you from?" Clara asked. Eddie tried to remember, but he couldn't. He could never figure out where he was from, what he once was.
"Don't know. Woke up in a vertibird crash about six months back. Got arrested by the NCR, did hard labor, got released, became Doc Mitchell's assistant." Eddie explained. "Based on my experience with weapons, medicine, and how I got here, I think I was in a militia of some kind, in the New River Valley if the markings on that vertibird were correct."
"Where do you think it is now?" Clara asked. Eddie chuckled.
"Long gone by now, was completely destroyed in the crash, scavengers probably picked apart what's left." Eddie stated. "Ah well, maybe there's a reason why I don't remember." By now they were in the motel room swapping stories of what they remembered. Clara spoke of her time in the NCR Army, while Eddie gave her some prison stories, leaving out the gorier details. Soon enough, Clara was able to fall asleep, but Eddie was unable to get any rest. Eddie wrote a note and took a walk outside of the room, wandering the 'streets' of Novac. Soon enough, Eddie spotted a brahmin pen.
"Heh, cows." Eddie muttered. He was about to turn away, when he heard the sound of a stealth boy deactivating. Standing directly in front of the pen was a nightkin, carrying a minigun. Clearly, it intended to kill the brahmin.
"Hnnn voices say strange needle man also metal man. I don't like metal men." It murmured, spinning up the minigun. "Moo moo help metal man, voices say so." Eddie quickly unslung his rifle, sending a single .308 straight at it. The bullet ripped straight through its head, killing it instantly. A man and a woman burst out of the house, the man holding a double barrel shotgun.
"The hell are you doing outside my brahmin pen with a rifle!? You're the one killing my brahmin!?" The man hissed.
"No sir, I came out here for an evening walk and I saw the nightkin show up with a minigun." Eddie explained. "It was muttering to itself about voices saying that the brahmin are helping people made of metal. Seems it was a paranoid schizophrenic.
"My word, sorry about the shotgun, just a precaution." The man stated as the woman went back inside. "So it was a nightkin killing my brahmin, that'd explain the bullet marks. Must not have used a minigun before, probably why I never heard it shoot."
"It's okay, these things happen." Eddie stated.
"Why don't you come inside real quick, I'll find a way to pay you." The man stated. Eddie stepped in his house, while insisting he didn't want payment.
"Nonsense, that's a .308, bullets for that are expensive." the man, who was named Dusty McBryde stated. "Here's 75 caps, it should pay for a full magazine and a nice meal if you ever go to Freeside. My wife and I will make you and that friend of yours some breakfast in the morning too, brahmin steak and gecko eggs are actually very good for you. And we made some brahmin jerky too, it's a nice snack for a long trip to Vegas."
"Sir, that's way too much." Eddie stated. "You don't have much to your name, it feels like I'm robbing you."
"Nonsense my boy." Dusty said with a smile. "You saved our livelihood. If you hadn't come, we'd have to pack up and leave our life behind. So please, accept my gift for you." Eddie sighed.
"Fine, if you insist…" Eddie sighed. Dusty placed the caps and a bag of jerky in his hands. Eddie returned to his room, at least lying down until sunrise. Once that came, Eddie and Clara went to the McBride's house for the breakfast offer.
"So, where are you whippersnappers off too?" Alice, Dusty's wife, asked the duo.
"Gonna go to Boulder City to talk to some Kahns that may have something of mine, then, it's off to the strip on some business." Clara stated.
"Oh my, great Khans certainly are a handful." Dusty stated. "But you certainly are a crackshot, Mr. Eddie. I took a look at that nightkin's body, the bullet ripped straight through his eye, not an easy shot to make."
"How'd you do that?" Clara asked. "Skill?"
"Skill and a good rifle." Eddie stated. "A sniper can only do as much as his weapon can, that's why I spent a small fortune on this rifle, easily seven hundred caps. It's a pre-war Remington 700, military model. It wasn't in the best shape when I found it, so I spent another two hundred fifty caps and three weeks fixing the old girl up."
"Whew, that's a lot of dedication to one rifle." Clara whistled. "My guns are just my old NCR issue gear, I just clean 'em once in a while."
"Yeah makes sense, NCR trains people to clean the gun once it starts breaking down to save on repair costs." Eddie nodded.
"Well, you two stay safe out there. You two are welcome to come by anytime and we'll fix you up with a nice meal." Alice said with a smile.
"We will." Clara smiled.
"Thank you for your hospitality, the food was amazing." Eddie said with an equal smile. The pair of wanderers left Novac, approaching Boulder City. According to Clara, a terminal she found in some sniper's room explained that he helped a pair of Khans to Boulder City to escape NCR justice, though that only would put them in further trouble. And once they arrived at Boulder City, it certainly seemed that was the case. The NCR was in a standoff with a group of Khans, who had a hostage in their possession.
"Sorry, but we can't let any civilians in here, cities on lockdown." A Lieutenant named Monroe informed them. "Some Khans are holding some of ours hostage."
"See, they almost killed me and they may have something of mine and-" Clara stated before being cut off.
"Sorry, but you can't retrieve it until after it's over." Lt. Monroe sighed.
"What if we help end the standoff?" Eddie asked.
"Hmm, as contractors outside of our SOP, you could do more than we can." Lt. Monroe mused. "Alright, ma'am, you'll talk to them, they may be spooked and easier to talk to if they see a dead woman walking. As for you, sir, you take that rife of yours and take position on the rooftop over there." Lt. Monroe pointed at a destroyed building. "You'll serve as an overwatch if things go hairy." Eddie nodded, turning to face Clara.
"Best if you go almost unarmed, but, take this." Eddie stated, handing a pair of revolvers and some .357 magnum bullets to Clara. "Friend gave them to me, six shots each, more than enough to kill anything that moves. Stash 'em in your coat."
"Heh, hell yeah." Clara stated, stashing the revolvers and setting aside her shotgun and Hi-Power. "See you on the other side, Ed." Eddie nodded, preparing for what he was certain would be an inevitable firefight. How wrong he would be.
Clara walked over to the Khans after they informed she's here to talk to them. They let her pass, leading them to Jessup, the leader of the Khans that attacked her.
"Oh fuck, how the hell are you still alive?" Jessup asked as Clara stepped in.
"I didn't, I'm a ghost, I'm here to haunt you. OOoOOo." Clara deadpanned, while imitating a ghost at the end.
"Oh fuck we shot a comedian." Jessup groaned. "If you're looking for the chip, that asshole Benny took it after skipping out on paying us."
"So you don't have it." Clara sighed. "God damn it, do you know where he is now?"
"Yeah, a casino called The Tops in The Stirp." Jessup stated. "Do us a favor, kill the asshole, here's a little something he left behind, should tell you the place he's at." Jessup tossed Clara a zippo lighter with the logo of The Tops engraved on it. "Now then, about the hostages, what do you want about them?"
"If you release them, I think I can make a deal with NCR." Clara stated. "Trust me on this."
"Fine, we'll let 'em go, just get us a pardon or some shit, I don't know." Jessup stated. Clara gave a mock salute and walked to Lt. Monroe.
"Great job getting those two out, but we have a problem. NCR wants us to kill the Khans, hostages or not." Lt. Monroe stated.
"If you have any kind of honor, or just want to save some face, honor the deal. Escort them out of NCR territory, and let them go at the edge of the territory." Clara stated. "Don't want another Bitter Springs."
"You're right, I'll escort them out to the edge of the dry lakes, then, they'll get to run free." Lt. Monroe stated. "Doesn't feel right, but it's the better option. Here, two hundred NCR, should get you some decent gear anywhere that takes it."
"Thanks, I'll put it to good use." Clara smiled. Eddie approached, his rifle slung over his shoulder.
"Seems you really do have a way with words." Eddie chuckled. "If it were up to me, I'd hop in there and gun them down." Eddie smirked as he casually mentioned that he'd massacre several tribals. "So, where are we headed next?"
"The Strip, we're getting close to our guy." Clara stated. "His name is Benny, and he runs one of the casinos."
"Benny, I've heard that name." Eddie mused. "Yeah I remember. He was at the Prospector Saloon back in Goodsprings. Guy was an asshole, he deserves what we're gonna do to him."
"Couldn't agree more." Clara smiled.
A/N: Yay a longer than usual chapter! This is what happens when you get into a rhythm. My advice if you want to write? When you wake up, write down the first thing you can think of, it'll help you get into a groove for the day. As for what's happening next, I think I'm going find a way to start Honest Hearts. It's one of my favorite DLC, probably my second favorite, beaten by Lonesome Road. Well, hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful day!