"What you thinking?" Cass asked.

"Thinkin' we go in through the front, we're gonna get shot at." I answered.

Looking out from our vantage point in the old Samson Rock Crushing plant, Cass and I had a good view of our next bounty's location.

She was a Fiend by the name of Eileen. A real nasty piece of work too, even comparing her to the previous to fingers I'd brought in. She was known for taking male NCR troopers and, of all possible things, castrating them before torturing and eating them for days on end. Leaving what was left on display for passing patrols to find. Naturally, this was taking a heavy toll on Morale, but nobody'd managed to track her down.

That was, until Cass and me figured out she was confined to a pretty small area. A little searching brought us back to the building I'd found Driver Nephi in. Only this time, we weren't getting sniper support. Which was why we were squatting on top of the old equipment in the plant's yard. I wanted an idea of what we were getting into before charging in head long. It was night now, probably two hours since sunset.

"… I'm counting eight, maybe ten." I said, lowering my binoculars "There's a lot of room in there to keep people. Can't get too good of a read."

"Sounds like the group Nephi had." Cass said, taking a pull of whisky before passing me the bottle "Got any ideas?"

I lifted my motorcycle helmet up, took a swig, and stared out towards the building the bounty was camping in. "… Thinkin' we might be able to burn her out. But…"

"… You seriously want to try taking her alive?"

I shrugged "Kinda, but not because I think she should be. She clearly a friggin' loon."

"Then why are you going to try?"

"Because I still feel like I should. Even if the NCR would just execute her anyway, I still want to try."

Cass gave me a nonplussed look, then shrugged. "Well, I'm here, what do you want me to do?"

I continued squatting, and thought about it for a moment. We couldn't charge in and expect to take her alive. If we snuck in, we might have a chance, but there was always the possibility that trying to would drag the other fiends in anyway. Making it a moot point. So whatever we planned would need to happen fast, smart, and most importantly: quiet.

"… We'll blitz them." I decided, passing the bottle back.

"How's that?" Cass asked, taking another swig.

"One of us will run distraction for the other fiends, while the other goes and gets Eileen."

"That sounds like a bad idea."

"Probably, but I'm still going to try and take a shot."

"You going to complain if we have to kill the fiends that aren't Eileen?"

"Do I look like a saint?" I asked sarcastically "We'll kill them if it comes to that. Wasteland would probably be better for it anyway."

Cass didn't respond, instead just giving me a skeptical, questioning look.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it flies in the face of why we're doing it this way."

"…heh, at least you know it." Cass shook her head "You want to be the distraction, or go after Eileen?"

"Depends, how fast are you one your feet?"

"… I'll get Eileen."

"Perfect…" I looked around the crushing plant for a moment. "I'll run them back this way, try to lose them in the yard. That should give you a window to get in and grab her."

"What if she follows them?"

"Then they probably won't notice if you take her anyway. Don't worry about being gentle either."

"Wasn't planning to." Cass smirked.

"Aight then, let's do it."

I hopped of the room of the crane I was squatting on, falling about ten feet before hitting the ground. Cass did the same, and we crept out of the yard and towards the ruins. Cass split off from me as we drew closer, taking cover behind a small outcropping of rubble. I gave her a nod, and sprang to my feet, charging into the ruins a small distance. Once I was maybe ten feet past the crude 'entrance' I stopped and took brief stock of the Fiends I could see. I'd been expecting a bit of opposition, somewhere between five or ten other Fiends besides Eileen.

It was actually closer to fifteen. Not that it really mattered, since they all needed to go anyway. Most were out in the open lingering around fire pits and tables, probably doped out of their skulls.

"Hey, Assholes!" I shouted "Get bent by bighorner!"

I whipped out a 10mm smg and sprayed the room. If I actually succeeded in hitting anyone it'd be a bonus, but I wasn't aiming to. I just needed to kick the cazador nest hard enough to get a reaction.

The one I got amounted to every Fiend conscious enough diving for cover to avoid the gunfire. I emptied the magazine, then made an exaggerated effort of showing that I was reloading. During which time,t Fiends had the opportunity to recover, quickly grabbing their weapons and preparing to open fire on me. I stopped exaggerating in time to return a small hail of gunfire to the room. But that only served to piss off the Fiends further, as intended. I stopped shooting and back swiftly towards the entrance. The fiends took my pause as an opening, and re-opened fire on me with Laser RCWs and shotguns. Their aim was off, and I hastened my retreat.

I dipped out of the entrance way, giving one last burst of gunfire to makes sure I had their full attention. I didn't check to see if Cass was ready, trusting that she was, nor did I bother counting as the fiends came charging out after me. Without pause I bolted for the crushing plant, doing my best to make sure they could easily follow me. I could hear the shotgun-fire behind me, but either none of it was hitting me, or the few stray bits of shot that did hit me in the better protected areas. Either way their aim was garbage, and didn't slow me down. Same goes for the laser fire, though they got closer to winging me. I could smell the leather of my duster burning any time a bolt got too close for comfort.

I was playing a dangerous game leading them like this. All it would take was a lucky hit or two and things would get a lot worse for me. The only thing I really had to count on in that moment too were my own abilities. If I couldn't lose these guys in the yard, I'd have to fight them all. Which wasn't impossible, but definitely defeating the whole purpose of doing it in the first place.

Once we were deep into the yard proper, I began to weave between the various piles of gravel and machinery, keeping a lively step to make sure I broke line of sight with the fiends. They were tenacious if nothing else. I must've circled the place half a dozen times before I finally had them confused. Once they were thoroughly turned around though, I crouched low and moved quietly back towards the ruins.

I came back out front of the ruins in short order, in theory if everything had gone well Cass should already be waiting. But she wasn't there.

Then I heard the revving of a chainsaw deeper in the ruins.

Followed by a woman's scream.

"Cass!"

I stopped crouching and bolted back into the ruins. Pulling my smg back to the ready. The ruins had no real structure to them, obviously. But the rubble had been roughly moved to give people some clear pathways.

I followed the idling of a chainsaw engine to the center of the ruins. I struggled to keep my footing as I skidded into a small clearing.

Cass and another woman were lying face first on the ground, bleeding heavily. Looming over both of them was a man, wearing silvery metal armor and holding a chainsaw. The blade of it was hovering inches away from Cass's back. The man looked to me, leaving the teeth cycling just above Cass.

"'Bout time I found you." The man growled, his voice thin but deep "Spent long enough chasing you. Thought I'd finally get the drop on you if I hung around this psychotic whore long enough."

"Shame" I said "Because I couldn't care less."

I whipped my smg up and took aim for his head.

The man dipped his chainsaw closer to Cass, and I held my fire.

"You think I'm stupid?" The man said "I'm not my brother."

"Step away from her." I growled "Don't make me kill you."

"I'm not doing anything, 'Neither are you."

"You really want to gamble on that?"

"All I have to do is keep you standing here until the whore's goons come back. It's not a gamble."

"… who are you?" I asked, mentally judging whether or not I could take him out before he hurt Cass.

The man chuckled, then broke into a manic little laugh. His saw dipped again to Cass, but came back up as his fit ended. "My name… is MOTO-"

Cass rolled to the side, and out of the way of 'Moto's saw blade. She came to a knee, pivoted, and kicked the back of his Knee as hard as she could.

'Moto' howled, and buckled to a knee as his chainsaw bit into the dirt and stalled out.

Cass scrambled out of the way as I unloaded the magazine into 'Moto'. The shots ringing like bells off the closed space. I held the trigger for all of Six seconds before a dry *click* told me the magazine was done. 'Moto' crumbled backwards to the ground as I threw the gun aside and landed on him. If the emptied magazine of 10mm rounds hadn't been enough to do him in, then the three fists I slammed into his windpipe did it. He Tensed for a moment, then gave a small death rattle and went limp.

Don't threaten my companions.

I got up, and quickly reloaded my smg, surveying the copious amount of blood pooled on the floor. I turned to Cass. "You ok?"

"Fine" Cass gritted, clutching her side. "Teeth caught me when I rolled away."

"What happened?" I asked, offering Cass a hand up. I kept an eye on our surroundings. The other Fiends were bound to have heard the commotion.

"Got the drop on her." Cass said, taking my hand and climbing to her feet. "Almost had her down like you wanted. Then Tin-man over there showed up and tried to gut me with his chainsaw."

"I'm guessing he got Eileen instead." I said, examining Eileen, who I could now confirm was a corpse. Her stomach had been ripped open, and I could see bits of her guts spilling out. I didn't look any further than that.

"My fault." Cass grunted, clutching her side "He tried to swipe at me and I shoved Eileen at him."

"Damn."

I could hear the fiends shouting in the distance. They didn't seem to be getting any closer, but I preferred not to gamble with Cass's life more than I already did.

"Can you move?" I asked, Beginning to loot Eileen.

"I'll be fine." Cass grunted "You got a stimpack I can borrow?"

I reached into a pocket and tossed her one of the syrettes of life-giving science. Eileen didn't have much on her, and I wasn't expecting her to anyway, but I felt like being thorough.

Then I saw her necklace. A simple leather string, with dried, leathery looking bits of meat set at intervals. All varying slightly in size, shape, and color. Each having one end that looked neatly cut, while the other came to a rounded head. Though most of them looked like they were beginning to rot. One of them looked rather recent and… fresh.

"… Cass, is this a necklace of severed dicks?"

I heard Cass shuffle over to me, and saw her staring down at the corpse in front of me.

"… Looks like it." She answered, sounding a bit unsurprised.

I threw up a little in my mouth. "Great, wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things."

I stood up and looked away from Eileen. I didn't have the time or patience for this anymore. I walked over to the Tin-man and picked up his chainsaw. I revved it back to life and sawed-off Eileen's hand. We'd worry about removing the finger after we were out of Fiend territory. I then gave Tin-man a quick once over, ditched the chainsaw, and we made a speedy withdrawal from the ruins. Giving the crushing plant a wide berth.

Once we were safely out of firing range, I took a moment to check on Cass. "How's the side?"

"Better." She said "That stuff works wonders."

"Mm, gotta be careful though, it's still got its limits."

"Yeah, I know. You find anything useful on Tin-man and Dick-girl?"

"Don't call her that, and yeah, I think."

I held up a pair of papers I'd found on either attacker. One from Tin-man, and one from Eileen.

"Do you seriously want to read anything written by that crazy bitch?" Cass asked.

"After Quigley?" I countered "Fuck no, but I'm going to hold onto it anyway. Just on the off chance I ever feel like torturing myself."

"… You're a pack rat, you know that?"

I shrugged "Yeah, I know. You wanna look over Tin-Man's?"

"… Fuck it, why not?"

I put Eileen's holotape away, and popped 'Moto's' into the tape deck of my pip-boy. There was a small whir as the tape was read.

'Motorhead,

I was just as devastated by the death of your brother as anyone else in the Mojave Wasteland. He was an invaluable business partner.'

"His name was Motorhead, apparently." Cass surmised.

"Sounds like a term the fiends would use for a blowjob."

Cass punched my arm and I continued reading.

'I understand you've been looking for information on the killers, and in light of our relationship I took it upon myself to assist you in the endeavor. Courier Six and Rose of Sharon Cassidy are, ostensibly, the perpetrators. Having likely been contracted by the NCR. It is rumored that Courier Six and Cassidy are also pursuing bounties for Randall & Associates, and will be entering your territory shortly in pursuit of Eileen, another NCR target.'

Cass and I stared silently down at the screen of my pip-boy. We then very carefully began scanning the surrounding area. We were being watched. It hadn't dawned on us until then, but someone was very clearly was keeping an eye on us.

'I hope that this information is helpful in your quest for justice. Good luck.

Sincerely, Judge Richter'

"… I don't think it's safe for us to be traveling together right now." I said finally.

"No kidding?" Cass asked "Was wondering what kind of attention we'd be getting."

"Let's split here, and meet back at the 38. I'll head to Steve and get the bounty."

"Fine, but that place still gives me the creeps… Think I'm gonna sit the next few bounties out too."

"That's fine" I nodded "Just try to keep your head low, alright?"

"I know, I know, you want me to send anyone out that way?"

I nodded for a moment, still scanning the darkened horizon. "Send Raul, I think he'd appreciate getting to stretch his legs for a bit."

Cass nodded and, without another word, the two of us split. Walking off into the growing night.