Chapter 42 - Powder Gangers
"This is all my fault..." Ringo groaned, burying his face into his hands, as he heard the news. "I should never have stayed here this long. If only I hadn't been too scared to run for the Mojave Outpost..."
"It really isn't, boy." Trudy comforted the caravanner. "I know Cobb's type. The Powder Gangers have been looking to expand ever since they broke out; your presence here is just an excuse."
"Powder Gangers?" Pyrrha couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. As a Courier, her job had required her to know about the local threats, but she hadn't heard about this tribe before.
"Chain gangs, really." Trudy elaborated. "The NCR brought them in from California to work on the rail lines. Problem is, it turns out that giving convicts a bunch of dynamite and blasting powder isn't the best idea. Was a big escape not too long ago."
"That's... uh... that must have been unexpected?" Jaune offered. He had no idea who the NCR were, but he felt like he should at least give them the benefit of the doubt.
Sunny just smiled at Jaune's idealism, but shook her head.
Pyrrha, for her part, sighed. Typical fucking NCR.
"Anyway, some of 'em stuck together so they could make trouble." Trudy finished up. "That's what we're dealing with now."
"So, what do you plan to do?" Jaune inquired, even as Pyrrha felt a headache coming on.
"Well, I'm going to help Ringo take on the Powder Gangers." Sunny Smiles answered confidently.
"Just like that?" Ringo asked incredulously.
"Just like that." Sunny nodded. "I have a feeling that I'm going to end up fighting those guys one way or another, so I might as well get it over with. Joe Cobb talks about leaving us alone if we hand over Ringo, but Trudy's right. He and his friends will come after the town eventually. And also..."
"Also?" Jaune asked, as Sunny fidgeted and looked at him.
"Also, a good friend keeps talking about how strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Sunny admitted, feeling her cheeks warming up. "After everything he's done for the town in the past week, it wouldn't be right if I didn't pay his kindness forward, you know?
"Oh..." Jaune couldn't help but scratch his chin and look away, fighting to ignore how his face was heating up. While he was happy that his example was somehow inspiring others, he had no idea how to react to such earnest praise. "Well, if that's the case, what kind of good friend would I be if I didn't lend a hand too?"
"And I guess that means I'm getting involved too." Pyrrha groused, rubbing her temples. She may have had a job to do, but the trail was already cold anyway. Most of all, though, no matter what she'd done, no matter how she'd failed, she always settled her debts.
"Are you sure you're up for this, Courier?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know, since you just woke up from getting shot in the head?" Jaune continued.
Pyrrha blinked. Oh, right... they didn't know who she was. Suddenly, she was feeling very thankful for her split-second decision to hide her identity; people that knew who Pyrrha Nikos was wouldn't have bothered asking if she was up for a fight.
"Worry about yourself, Arc." Pyrrha shot back, gently slapping him in the back to try and ease the sting of her words. "You may have saved my life, but that doesn't mean I know how good you are in a proper scrap."
"Well, I hope I don't disappoint you, then." Jaune rolled his eyes at her, though he still held his hands up in mock surrender.
"You two..." Trudy murmured, touched by their selflessness. "How can our town ever repay you for all your help?"
"I'm trying to track down the people who shot me in the head." Pyrrha quickly answered, before Jaune could do something stupidly noble, like decline any reward. "Know anything about them?"
"Not much, other than they're a bunch of freeloaders who expected a few rounds on the house." Trudy growled. "I was able to get them to pay up, though. Of course, one of the Great Khans did knock my radio to the floor "by accident", and it hasn't been working since."
Well, fuck, there went her best lead.
"Well, it was a long shot." Pyrrha sighed. "Thanks for the information, though. I guess I'll try the Mojave Express branch office in Primm, see if they can tell me more about my delivery, since they're the ones that sent in the order in the first place..."
"So, what's the plan to deal with the Powder Gangers?" Trudy asked, looking around the room.
Ringo was an experienced caravanner, Sunny Smiles was good enough to hunt radscorpions, Courier was an experienced courier (and thusly had to be good in a fight, to have actually survived deliveries across the Wastes), and while Jaune seemed like a friendly puppy, she'd seen him helping some of the ranchers and farmers, not to mention Sunny Smiles. Boy had a lot of muscle hidden under his top.
She was just the town's bartender and informal mayor. She'd defer to their clearly-greater expertise in this matter.
"I guess we could set up defenses in the town, wait for the inevitable attack?" Ringo suggested.
"I'd rather not let the fighting be anywhere near the town." Sunny frowned. It was a good plan... if you were an outsider. She, on the other hand, knew everyone in the small town. Even a single death would weigh heavily on her conscience.
"Where is Cobb, anyway?" Pyrrha asked the important question.
"He and his gang have been hanging out around the edge of town." Trudy answered. "Honestly, I think they're just waiting to see if they can get our caps before they burn our town to the ground."
"... I think I've got an idea." Jaune spoke up.
-FIVE MINUTES LATER-
"Seriously, you're sure Arc isn't touched in the head?" Pyrrha asked Sunny, as she peeped over the fence, Sunny's spare Varmint Rifle in hand, watching as the person who'd saved her life casually and carelessly walked up to the criminal like he was taking a midday stroll.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure he's just a nice guy, Courier." Sunny answered testily, as much out of apprehension for Jaune's safety as out of annoyance at the fact that the Courier was bad-mouthing Jaune.
"Just saying, there's a difference between nice and stupid." Pyrrha huffed, wondering if his plan would really work.
Sunny just rolled her eyes, not trusting her mouth. Honestly, seeing how the Courier was talking about the guy who'd saved her life, who'd helped the town out, just irked her!
"So, what's the deal between you and him, Courier?" Ringo asked, more to change the subject before the two women killed each other than out of genuine curiosity.
"He found me and brought me to the Doc's, and then when I woke up he offered to help me get my package back." Pyrrha shrugged.
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"It's Jaune." Sunny just sighed, remembering how she'd first met him. She'd been patrolling the wells when she'd heard a scream, and seen a girl from the town getting chased by a pack of geckos. Before she'd been able to shoot them, however, Jaune had suddenly charged into the pack, kicking the leader off of the cliff, and scattering the rest. Turned out, Trudy had asked the newcomer to check on Sunny, and from there a weird friendship had been born.
Ringo and the Courier just exchanged a look, seeing the expression on the town guard's face.
Deciding that commenting would be foolish (and not worth the scant amusement it would bring her), she turned back to Jaune, and whispered: "They're talking now."
"You're the fucker that kicked me out of the bar just now!" Joe Cobb growled, as Jaune strutted up to him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut you like a fish!"
"Easy, I'm just here to talk." Jaune held up his hands, to show they were empty, with a lot more confidence than he felt. Sure, he could probably take on a dozen guys without Aura by himself without much trouble, but Trudy had mentioned that they'd had explosives. He wasn't sure he could take them all out before someone tossed an explosive into the town.
Much easier to let him be the bait.
Jaune still couldn't help but let his hand rest on the hilt of his sword, finding comfort in it's familiar weight.
Cobb didn't miss the movement, and just sneered, confident in a dozen sticks of dynamite over a sword. "Hah! Who do you think you are, the Lone-fucking-Wanderer?"
"Why does everyone ask me that..." Jaune sighed in exasperation. "I've never even heard of the Lone Wanderer before!"
"Really?" Cobb blinked. "How haven't you heard of the Lone Wanderer, the Red Reaper, the legendary Knight in shining power armor from the East?!"
"I'm not really from around here..." Jaune just shrugged, noting that that was the understatement of the century.
"... anyway, fuckface, there isn't anything to talk about." Cobb shook his head and got the topic back on track. "Hand over yourself and Ringo, and maybe my boys won't torch the town."
"I've got a better idea." Jaune proposed, looking down into Joe Cobb's eyes (though he quietly took note of the other guys moving to surround him). "Walk away. Leave now and never return, and I'll let you live."
The Powder Gangers around him all roared with laughter.
"Once again, who the fuck do you think you are, the fucking Lone Wanderer?" Joe Cobb taunted, pressing his finger into Jaune's chest (and mentally noting how hard it was). "Boys, grab me a stick of dynamite! Let's show this town what happens to those who mess with the Powder Gangers!"
Jaune just sighed.
Why did raiders and bandits never listen?
His hand shot up, gripping Cobb's finger, and he pulled, yanking the man forward, as he unsheathed his sword.
Cobb suddenly found the wind knocked out of him, as the sword's pommel was driven into his solar plexus, before Jaune smashed it into the back of his skull, and tossed the unconscious Cobb into the nearest Powder Ganger.
The Powder Gangers, caught by surprise, not expecting anyone to be crazy enough to walk into them and actually cause trouble, quickly fumbled for their guns.
Shots rang out, and Powder Gangers began to fall, bleeding from bullet wounds.
Jaune, for his part, did his best to contain the Powder Gangers around him, keeping them focused on him as he shouted, roared, and taunted while he jumped between them, making sure to stay mobile before they could properly aim, even as his sword flashed out with every leap, slicing limbs, weapons, and heads as he moved.
Behind him, Joe Cobb stirred, and watched as the boy they'd been taunting turned into a bolt of lightning, streaking between his men.
He grit his teeth and pulled out a stick of dynamite from the guy beneath him, intent on making sure he at least took down the kid with him. Petty revenge, perhaps, but hey, he'd take what he could get.
Suddenly, the stick of dynamite in his hand exploded, taking his arm and his man with it, as someone shot it.
Cobb's eyes widened, as he stared at the mess.
Pyrrha didn't give him a chance to scream, instead sliding the bolt back with one smooth motion, before drilling another bullet into him, this one aimed between his eyes.
As the last Powder Ganger fell, Jaune took a second to look around, making sure there was no more movement, before he finally sheathed his sword.
As he did so, Ringo, Sunny, and the Courier jump over the fence they'd been hiding behind, and approached him.
As the other two congratulated him on a job well done, Pyrrha took a moment to study the carnage, before murmuring: "Not bad, Arc."
Honestly, that was putting it lightly.
She'd never have expected that Jaune Arc, the naive and idealistic boy who helped strangers just because, was capable of such feats of athleticism and swordplay.
Just who was Jaune Arc?
One thing was for sure.
Her journey with him would be anything but boring.
Author's Note: Just a short and relatively light chapter. I don't think this shows much of Jaune being a badass, since these are just Powder Gangers. Compared to Alduin and Enclave Squad Sigma, what are a bunch of escaped convicts with dynamite?
I... actually don't know why Ringo stays hiding in the town for a whole week, especially since, in-game, he's genuinely afraid that Goodsprings is going to turn him over to the Powder Gangers for their safety. He could've just snuck over to the Mojave Outpost, or any NCR camp...
And no, Jaune isn't stupidly noble like he was in Skyrim. Of course, with that said... he probably would've refused a reward, since he doesn't actually need one. And so, to Courier Six... he's stupidly noble.
Also... it's Jaune. Can you really say he wouldn't accidentally stumble into a pack of giant lizards, unintentionally pushing the leader off a cliff?
Or suggesting that he try speaking to the gang that wants to burn the town down first, while letting his "team" get into position for an ambush? He wants to help people, and he's a naive idealist, but he's not stupid. He's fought enough raiders and bandits to know they probably won't back down, just like he knows his Aura, skill, and weapon are probably enough to keep him alive.
Also, just to clarify on Doc Mitchell's questions from the previous chapter... Jaune didn't lie about the sword thing. Doc Mitchell looked at the sword, saw that it was just made of bone, and had absolutely no fuel source or mechanisms that would allow it to burst into flames or emit electricity, and asked if Jaune had ever heard of the Lone Wanderer, to which the answer was "no".
