Chapter 4: Alea Iacta Est (The Die is Cast)

Felix shook off sleep and sat up in bed. He was still surprised at what he'd agreed to last night in the dinosaur. He'd have to watch his words very carefully around the sniper and also make sure the scars on his back weren't revealed. Difficult but doable. Felix gathered his gear. He now had a full kit stocked with food, water, clothes, camping supplies and even medical supplies, including a few of those stimpaks.

Felix was also fully geared. He wore a thick leather coat with a pair of cargo pants, a cowboy hat and sunglasses. The cowboy hat and sunglasses were useful in protecting him from the weather and they were also useful in hiding his obviously identifiable features, his hair and eyes. He was armed with the same varmint rifle Sunny had given him as well as a plethora of sharp and blunt objects; machete, combat knife, throwing knives, switch blades and spiked brass knuckles. It was always good to have backup weapons.

Felix knew he should be going after the man in the checkered suit. He should be hunting down his stolen package. But he had come to the Mojave to learn about the NCR. This was the perfect opportunity to do that. The chip and his attacker could wait; his revenge could wait.

Felix left his room and locked the door behind him. His room. He liked that. His gear. His weapons. In the Legion, nothing belonged to you, unless it was given to you. Some deeds earned weapons, some earned slaves. Felix had once had the opportunity to own a slave. He had provided vital strategic information on the weaknesses of a tribe. When it came to the battle, the Legion didn't lose a single man. Felix's centurion at the time had seen fit to reward him for his efforts. The centurion would have offered him a slave but Felix was a speculatore, a scout. He spent the vast majority of his time away from camp doing reconnaissance. He had little use for a personal slave. Instead the centurion had given him Rufus. For four years he had spent every single day with that dog. But Rufus had died.

Felix sighed and turned toward the hotel courtyard. In the predawn light he saw his new partner leaning against the dinosaur. The sniper was wearing cargo pants with just a light t-shirt. He still wore the red beret and sunglasses. He had a machete on his belt and a pistol on his thigh. His rifle was over his shoulder and he wore just a light pack. As Felix headed down to the courtyard he eyed the other man with a more critical eye. In the daylight, he could see that the sniper was pale and gaunt, his face was flushed and his hands trembled, ever so slightly. His tee-shirt hung loosely off his broad shoulders and his belt was two notches tighter than the well-worn hole. Felix also guessed the sunglasses were hiding tired, bloodshot eyes. He looked like he wouldn't last a day in the wasteland but at some point he had probably been in good shape, since he had been in the army.

Felix considered carefully. He didn't really know what love was. It wasn't a concept that was talked about much in the Legion and Felix had never experienced it. But he did know about loss. He'd lost a lot of friends over the years and he'd lost Rufus. At the time, Rufus was Felix's best friend and constant companion. It wasn't the same as losing a wife and child, but it was as close as he could relate. Felix figured he'd have to watch the sniper and figure out if he could be relied upon or if he'd been driven mad with grief.

Felix approached the sniper. "Got a name, sniper?" He asked when he was close.

"Boone." Was the one word reply he got.

"I'm Felix." Felix set about settling his gear into place. "Do you know how far Nelson is?"

"Four hours east, on the river."

"Alright. We're doing it in three." Felix said with a grin.

"What?" Boone asked in slight surprise.

Felix's grin broadened and he raised one eyebrow. "Unless you can't keep up." Boone was getting back into shape, whether he wanted to or not.

Boone's brow drew down. "I got your back."

When Felix saw the Ranger in the distance, he finally stopped. Felix had started with the basics and done the two hour and fifty minute trek to Nelson in intervals of jogging and walking. Felix was barely winded; Boone on the other hand, looked like he was going to throw up from the exertion. He hadn't stopped though and managed to stay at Felix's side the whole time. That had kind of impressed Felix. Now that they were stopped, Boone was nearly doubled over, panting for breath. Felix pulled his canteen from his pack and drank then passed it over to Boone. He was going to warn him not to drink too fast, but he already seemed to know that.

"Catch your breath. Then we'll see what's to see." Felix said as he watched the Ranger and the troopers in the distance. After a few minutes, the Ranger seems to get tired of waiting for them and he came down the road to meet them.

"Hold up there. This area is locked down by the NCR military until we can dislodge some Legion snakes from Nelson." The Ranger said to Felix, and then looked at his partner. "Boone?!"

"Milo." Boone greeted in return.

"Thought you were still on guard duty in Novac."

Boone got a cold expression on his face. "Time to get back to killing the Legion."

"Well, I could sure use some First Recon help. The Legion's got three men crucified down in the center of town. They've been up there forty eight hours. If you can remove the hostages from the equation, I could rally these troopers and we might have the manpower to take back the town."

Mercy killing. Felix glanced over at Boone. The look on his face was grim. Felix knew snipers were in charge of mercy killings, he's seen enough troopers on crosses get a bullet between the eyes. He also knew that killing your allies was not something to be taken lightly. Felix thought for several seconds while the silence enveloped the trio.

"How many legionaries?" Felix finally asked.

"I don't know for sure. Maybe twenty?"

Felix snorted derisively. "I heard Rangers were the best of the best." He glared at the Ranger. "Guess I heard wrong." Felix scanned the immediate area. "Where's the best place for you to set up, Boone?" Boone pointed to a nearby rise and Felix led the way. They snuck to the top of the rise and went prone.

"Alright." Felix whispered from his position beside Boone. "You start. I don't know what I can hit from here but I'll try. Once they get a fix on us they'll try and rush us. When they do, I'll go down to meet them. If anything starts getting too close, whistle and I'll fall back."

"And the hostages?" Boone asked quietly.

"Do you want to kill them?" Felix asked as he glanced over at his partner. He got a glare that was obvious even through the sunglasses. "That's what I figured." Felix considered and then grinned to himself. "We're not soldiers. No one can give us orders. If you don't want to kill them, then we won't." Felix lined up a shot with his varmint rifle. This was the farthest he had ever tried to hit a target from. "You shoot first."

A moment later, Boone fired. Felix opened fire too. It took the Legion several seconds to find the pair. In that time Felix fired off his five shots, hitting with only two. He reloaded and fired off three more before the first legionary rushed the hill. Felix dropped his rifle into the dirt and sprang forward to slide down the hill. As he slid, he drew his machete. At the bottom of the hill, he ducked a machete then countered the strike and killed the legionary. Felix dealt with the legionaries one at a time. Boone seemed to be making sure they only came at him solo. Eventually Felix heard a whistle. He glanced around and made sure he was clear then he climbed the hill.

"Three left." Boone said when Felix got close. "Hiding." Felix nodded and slid down the hill again. He entered the town and stalked around. The first legionary he simply kicked out of cover and Boone took care of. The second died to a machete to the throat and the third picked a bad time to leave his cover. Felix proceeded to check the bodies, making sure everyone was dead.

When he was finished he found Boone already helping one of the men down from a cross. As Felix approached, Boone pulled his varmint rifle off his shoulder and tossed it back to Felix without a word. Felix then helped him get the other two men down. Taking a living man down from a cross was another new experience for Felix. Felix watched as Boone took his canteen out of his pack and offered it to one of the soldiers. Giving away his supplies? I suppose they are allies. Felix thought. Hesitantly, he did the same.

"I have to admit, I didn't think you could do it. Guess that makes me the sap and you the hero." The Ranger said as he and the troopers finally came down into the empty town. "I know you've already done enough, but these boys are in rough shape. Think you could provide us an escort to Forlorn Hope?"

"What's Forlorn Hope?" Felix asked.

"NCR outpost a few hours north." Boone provided.

Felix thought carefully. He was fairly certain there was a Legion patrol out at the moment since he hadn't seen any dogs or a decanus. A four man patrol with a couple of dogs could probably take out a Ranger being laden down with three wounded troopers. But escorting them would mean walking into an actual NCR outpost. What better way to learn about the NCR? Felix thought and then grumbled to himself. "Alright." He finally agreed.

It took half an hour to get the troopers in good enough shape to travel. While The NCR tended its own, Felix checked around the town and looted anything of value. Finally he got waved over and the group headed off north.

"Stay on guard." Felix said as he took up the rear with Boone. Boone glanced over at him. How was Felix supposed to tell him that he knew they'd be ambushed? He couldn't just blurt out what he knew. He decided to leave it at that.

After an hour of walking, Felix's instincts told him to be alert. He'd learned long ago to trust his instincts. The legionaries were hidden along the rise they were walking on. The dogs came up the hill first, barking and snarling. Felix hated killing dogs.

"There!" Felix shouted as he raised his rifle. His first two shots killed the first dog up the rise. Boone killed the second. The legionaries came up behind the dogs. They were close, within twenty feet. Boone managed to kill one of the recruits and a second fell to a bullet Felix assumed was fired by the Ranger. Felix couldn't get a clear shot. The decanus used the opportunity provided by his fallen brothers to rush Boone. He got close enough to knock Boone's rifle out of his hands before Felix tackled the decanus. They wrestled for a moment before the decanus lost his footing and stumbled in the sand. He pulled Felix down with him and they both went rolling down the hill. Felix heard more shooting as he slid down the hill but his focus was on the decanus. The decanus, still wielding his machete, was on top of him the moment they reached the bottom. Felix wrestled with the decanus, trying to keep the machete far enough from his vitals. The decanus pulled back and raised his machete high to strike the killing blow. Felix drew his combat knife and shoved it into the decanus's armpit toward his heart. A moment later there was a shot and the decanus's head exploded. The force of the bullet knocked the body off of Felix to land on the ground beside him. Felix was fairly certain the decanus was dead so he laid back in the sand for a moment to catch his breath.

"Still alive down there?"

Felix heard the gruff voice from up on the rise. He pulled himself up to a sitting position then got to his feet. He then made his way up the sandy hill. "You alright?" Felix asked his partner when he reached the top of the hill.

Boone was looking down at his rifle as he was working the slide. "Bastard got sand in the firing mechanism." Boone brought his eyes up to Felix. "You?"

"I got sand in other places." Felix said with a grin.

"Don't often see someone who can hold their own in melee against a legionary." Boone said gazing at Felix through tinted glasses.

Felix shrugged. "I've always been a scrapper." Shit, shit, shit! Was all that was going through Felix's head. "We should move on." Felix added, indicating the troopers that had gotten ahead of them. Boone nodded and they jogged to catch up.

In the late afternoon, Felix saw the NCR camp on the hill in the distance and tried not to panic. Nobody knows. Was the mantra he kept repeating in his head as they entered the camp. Felix looked around. It was a large camp with maybe two dozen tents but there definitely wasn't two dozen tents worth of soldiers here. He saw maybe ten soldiers including one who was examining the troopers, probably a doctor, and one who could only be an officer. Felix's brow drew down in thought. Fortification Hill was literally right across the river and this was all the troops they had? So far, he was not impressed. In fact it was quite the opposite; he was surprised the Legion had lost the First Battle of Hoover Dam if this was what the NCR had to offer. It did make Felix think. What did the NCR have that the Legion didn't that gave them the edge? Guns? Doctors? Stimpaks?

Felix felt a nudge to his shoulder that brought him back to reality. He glanced around. His eyes fell on Boone who was looking at him intently.

"The major wants to talk to us." Boone said when he had Felix's attention.

Shit. "Lead on, First Recon." Felix tried to sound casual.

Boone led the way to the largest tent and they headed inside. Inside the tent was vastly different than the tents Felix was used to. Instead of candle and fires, the tent was lit with electric lights powered by a nearby generator. Instead of runners waiting to deliver messages, there was a radio on a table nearby. Instead of fearing their superior, the soldiers seemed at ease around him.

"Two men." The major said as they walked in. "Here I am scrambling to get my hands on as many squads of troopers as I can to deal with Nelson and all it took was two men." He looked toward Boone and offered a hand. Boone took it and they shook hands quickly. "Good to see you again, Boone. Retired life not working out for you?"

"Legions getting too bold." Boone said through gritted teeth.

"Can't argue with you there. We can barely hold this camp, let alone patrol the river." The major said shaking his head. "Who's your friend? Another vet?" He asked as he glanced at Felix.

They thought he was NCR? Better clear that up. "No." Felix said quickly. "Just a courier."

"Well, we appreciate the help. God knows we need it." The major sighed.

"That bad?" Boone asked.

As Boone and the major chatted, Felix drifted off toward one of the boards that had lots of papers pinned to it. He couldn't read the document but the map of the Mojave was very informative. He quickly found the camp they were in. Next he noted the location of several Ranger Stations. "Major." Felix interrupted. "Did you hear about Ranger Station Charlie?" He asked as he traced from Novac to the Ranger Station on the map with one finger.

"Ranger Andy radioed it in yesterday." The major answered grimly.

"Be careful if you go there. The place was rigged with traps." Felix continued.

"Was?"

"I disarmed what I could but I can't be sure I got them all." With the map fully memorized, Felix turned back to the Major.

"We appreciate the assistance. Well, gentlemen, you're welcome to stay in camp tonight. Sadly, it's the most I can offer." Both men nodded to the major. Then Felix followed Boone out of the tent. It didn't take long for Boone to find them an empty tent. Felix went in and sat down on one of the cots.

"I took a look at that map of the area when you were chatting with the major." Felix began as he put his pack down and pulled out some two hundred year old preserved food. "The major said he didn't have enough troops to patrol the river. I think we could start with that."