Chapter 2: Gunfight in Goodsprings
Ringo told them to go and talk to Sunny about helping them deal with the Powder Gangers being led by Cobb. She automatically volunteered to assist. "Though the four of us alone won't be enough. It would be better if Niner and Vanessa were here but they went off to go take care of some other business, and we don't know when they'll be back. I would suggest you try and get Trudy to back us up. If she gets on board then the rest of the town will to."
"Yeah but the people here aren't ready for a fight." said Ruby.
"That's why you have to convince Chet to help armor them up, which won't be easy."
"Okay. Anyone else to consider?" asked Miles.
"Yeah, go talk to Easy Pete. He's got some dynamite stashed away for a special occasion. Then check on Jasper. Last i heard he was down by the well keeping watch on the road." With that the two split up. Ruby went to go and Talk to Easy Pete and Jasper, while Miles worked on Trudy and Chet. He also planned to see if Doc Mitchell could give them any extra medical supplies.
Miles walked over to Trudy and got her attention. "Hey Trudy, i need your help with something."
"Oh yeah, and whats that?" asked Trudy as she leaned against the bar.
"We're planning on defending Ringo against the Powder Gangers, but we can't do it on our own-"
"Let me stop you right there," said Trudy "Now I don't plan on stickin' my neck out for some stranger who's done nothing but bring us trouble."
"But if you just sit back and do nothing, then Cobb will just stroll in take Ringo and come back for more later on." countered Miles. "He said it himself, he'll bring his boys and take over this town." Trudy seemed to be in deep thought about that for a moment.
"That sounds like a possibility." she finally said. "Alright then I'll get the town ready incase them Gangers show up. But you have to talk to Chet and get him to supply us with some armor."
"I'll head over to him not."
XXXXXX
Ruby was walking over to the well, to find Jasper. She'd managed to get Easy Pete to give her his dynamite, but had to wait for him to dig it up from wherever he had hidden it. Now she just needed to get Jasper to help them, and hope that Miles had managed to get help Chet and Trudy. She found him perched on a rock overlooking the road into town. "Hey Jasper, you got a sec."
The man looked up from the road and at her. "Ah, if it isn't the courier from beyond the grave." said Jasper causing Ruby to glare at him. "What is it you require?"
"Miles and I are trying to get people to help us deal with Joe Cobb and his guys." Before she could continue he spoke up.
"Say no more, you have my help."
"Thanks. Okay now we just have to go check in with… what's going on down there?" Jasper looked to the road and saw someone doing a shuffling sprint up the road. He lined up his rifle to get a better look, and what he saw shocked him.
"Oh shit! It's my friend Vanessa." He said.
"Sunny said she was gone."
"She was helping a caravan travel down to Primm, but never came back." The two ran down to her collapsed body as Joe Cobb came running up with two Gangers behind him. They were about to shoot her, until Jasper put a round in one of his mens head. "Lower your weapons Cobb, or I'll put a round in your head next."
"You're gonna regret this "Ranger wannabe"", said Cobb as he and his man ran off.
"I'll carry her to Doc's place, you watch my back." said Jasper as he picked up Vanessa bridal style and carried her back.
XXXXXX
Joe Cobb returned to his groups camp. He was obviously pissed off about something. "Hey Cobb, you alright? What happened, where's Shimmy and that caravan guard?" asked one of Cobbs' men.
"He's dead, and the bitch got picked up by that ranger from town. Get ready boys, 'cause come sunrise we are taking that town!" said Cobb, getting cheers from his men. He then walked over to the pile of dead caravaners. The only ones they'd kept alive were the guard and the merchant herself. Just so they could have a little fun, before wasting them. He could hear her muffled screams from inside the trailer house they had with them. He opened a bag that belonged to the guard and pulled out a weapon. A menacing smile appeared on his face.
XXXXXX
Miles was walking back to the saloon after going to get some medical supplies from the doc. He'd managed to convince Chet to supply the town with armor and he'd even gotten him to cough up some extra ammo for Ruby's shotgun and his Varmint Rifle. As he walked back Sunny ran up to him with a Nuka-Cola in each hand. "So how'd it go with Chet and Trudy?" She asked as she tossed him a Nuka.
He smirked at her as he opened it up and pocketed the cap. "Chet agreed to hook us up with some Leather armor, and Trudy said she'd rally the townspeople behind us. Even managed to get Doc to give us some extra medical supplies." He then took a swig from the bottle, enjoying the sweetness of it.
"Well, aren't you the persuasive one." said Sunny, playfully elbowing his arm. The two were about to go into the saloon when they heard someone coming down the road. The two leveled their rifles ready to take a shot until they saw that it was Jasper and Ruby carrying someone with them. The two then joined them as they ran to Doc Mitchell's house. "What happened, is that Vanessa?" asked Sunny, in a panic.
"Yeah, it is," said Jasper. "I'll explain when we get to Doc's house." They banged loudly on Doc's door and called his name. As soon as he opened the door they all filed in and into the next room.
"My god!" said Doc Mitchell. "Is that Vanessa? What happened to her?!"
"By the looks of things, i'd say the Powder Gangers took out the caravan she was with." said Jasper, setting Vanessa down on one of Doc's beds.
"DId you take any of them down?" asked Miles, getting a nod in response from Ruby. "Shit, then that means they are gonna come here not just for RIngo. They're gonna come to take out the town."
"So that means we have to start getting ready in case they attack tonight." said Sunny.
"Yeah, we should. Sunny, take someone with you to keep an eye on the road. Ruby, get the armor from Chet and distribute them to all our fighters. Jasper, go get set up on top of the general store so you have a view of the main road." With that they spread out and got to work. As everyone spread out Miles did a headcount; they had Jasper, Sunny, Ringo, Easy Pete, Trudy, Ruby and himself, they had six additional community members fighting beside them. Though they had a decent number of fighters, they still had no idea how many Gangers there were under Cobbs command. He checked his rifle, making sure the safety was off before and it had a full mag ready.
"Hey Miles, come here." called Jasper, on the roof of the Chet's store, gesturing him over. Here, i figured you could use this." He tossed down a scope meant for his Varmint rifle.
"Thanks Jasper. Also, where did you get this?" asked Miles.
"Used to be on my old Varmint rifle. I figured you could use it."
"Alright, thanks. Hey Ruby, I'm gonna go set up by Doc's house."
"'Kay." Responded Ruby. She was busy loading her shotgun with buckshot, her 9mm with HP (Hollow Point), and her 10mm with AP (Armor Piercing). Her broad machete was in its sheath mounted on her right hip. She was dressed in their lightweight metal armor, and had a pistol holster on her lower back and right hip. She also had the dynamite she'd gotten from Easy Pete. What he had was a 9mm sub-machine gun he'd fixed up, a 40mm grenade rifle, and his Varmint Rifle, and was wearing his armored vault suit. Hopefully that would be enough to fight Joe Cobb and his men.
XXXXXX
7:46 AM
The sun had come up just over an hour ago. Sunny and her friend Chester were watching the road, just as they had been all night. They had Cheyenne with them to help keep watch during the night while they were asleep. They had been up for an hour when they saw images approaching. "Look alive Chester, looks like Cobb brought a whole dozen and a third with him."
"You're kidding me right?" asked Chester rather nervously.
"Nope, time to head back and tell everyone what's got coming." The two packed up and hustled it back to the town with Cheyenne following.
XXXXXX
"Heads up, I got Sunny and Chester coming down the road." said Jasper, as the two ran in. They took position behind the brokedown truck by the saloon where Ruby was set up.
"Joe Cobb coming?" said Ruby, getting a nod in response from Sunny as she checked the chamber on her rifle. "How many we got, what are they packing, and what kind of armor have they got?"
"Cobb's got another sixteen guys with him, but about half of them barely have any clothes on. They're packing Varmints, Caravan and Single Shotguns, SMG's, and what looks like Vanessa's FAL is in Cobbs hands."
"WHAAAAAAAAT!?" Shouted someone from across town. Miles looked behind him and saw a woman standing at 5'9 ½ came out of Doc Mitchell's house. "That son of a bitch has my Canadian C2 style heavy barrel FAL!" She sprinted across the town through the back door of the Prospector Saloon. She then barged out the front door and took position behind one of the old motorcycles. In one hand she held a 12.7mm handgun and in the other was a large bottle of whiskey. Sunny and Ruby gave each other a questioning look. Ruby then mouthed 'How the hell did she hear you'? Sunny's reply was just to shrug.
"Look alive people." called out Jasper. "Here they come." Then gunfire erupted as the Gangers began to rain bullets on them. Jasper was the first to return fire. His first round nailed an unarmored Ganger in the chest. His second shot went right through the head of the man on Cobbs' left. Two Gangers returned fire on him with varmint rifles, forcing him to duck down.
Half a dozen Gangers decided to advance and walked right into Miles line of sight. He fired three consecutive shots at the group with his Varmint. His first shot caught a simple armored Ganger in the leg, while his second round pierced through his left arm. The last shot bounced off an armored Gangers kevlar vest. The remaining Gangers took cover behind the water tower frame and fence, and began raining fire on Miles. Cobb and five others continued walking into town as the other seven maintained suppressive fire on Jasper and Miles. When they were close enough to the saloon Sunny, Ruby and Chester popped up from behind the truck and opened up on the Gangers. Just as the Gangers returned fire Ringo and two others; Massy and Dillon opened up on them from the alley between the saloon and the general store. Three more Gangers fell from all the gunfire, while Cobb and the last two with him fell back. The barrage of bullets on his group got even worse as the saloon door swung open and out came Easy Pete, Trudy, and three other fighters.
Vanessa then moved around the town and took out the two Gangers keeping Jasper pinned down. With those two gone Jasper was able to fire on the remaining Gangers. Cobb only had seven men left and was pinned down in a ditch with all of his men. He decided to bring out his ace, the FAL he'd gotten from that caravan guard. As two fighters approached the Gangers, he popped up and opened up on the two with a burst of fire to each. The armor piercing rounds he'd loaded it with paid off as he shredded through their armor killing one and severely wounded the other. He then had all of his men open fire on Vanessa, Jasper, and Miles while he Sprayed armor piercing rounds all across the saloon. One of his shots nailed Easy Pete in the leg and knocked him off the porch, Ruby wielded both her handguns and opened up on Cobb as Chester and Sunny dragged him behind the truck. Cobb returned fire, piercing her right shoulder, but didn't go unscathed as he took a hit to his leg. Ruby got back behind the truck now that Easy Pete was safe and lit a stick of dynamite. Sunny and Chester did the same and simultaneously they threw the sticks back at the convicts. The sticks flew right over Cobb, but caused his men to move on him as the dynamite landed by them, killing two more and wounding a few others.
Now that they were no longer firing on him, Miles managed to ready his grenade rifle and after angling it he launched a round. He waited, and after a long moment he heard the round go of.
XXXXXX
Cobb's ears would not stop ringing. His sight was blurry but he could have sworn he saw two of his men staggering to their feet. Then in an instant they were gunned down with a single shot to each of their heads. He half expected to have his head blown off as he got up. What he didn't expect was a blur running at him from across town, and sock him in the face. One of the two who were with the ranger in the saloon had ran over to him and hit him square in the face. He then went on to swipe his feet off the ground, dropping him to the ground. As he was getting back up an arm rapped around his neck and pulled him into a kneeling position. He began to struggle because he could feel a hand pressed against the back of his head. The guy was trying to snap his neck (Think the opening scene to MK: Deadly Alliance). He could feel more pressure being applied, he began to panic, his heart sped up, his eyes rapidly moved in every direction. In an instant his entire world slowed down and then-
XXXXXX
Miles finally managed to snap Joe Cobb's neck and finally ended his threat to Ringo and the rest of Goodsprings. He then turned to those who had fought to defend the town, he then picked up the FAL rifle and walked over to Vanessa. He held it out to her, prompting her to take it. which she accepted. With that gesture everyone cheered now that their town was safe. Vanessa smiled as she held her gun, the weight felt good in her hands. Ruby ran over and tackled Miles to the ground, forgetting that she was in metal armor. The weight of her armor would have crushed most people, but luckily he wasn't most people. Jasper jumped off the roof of Chet's store and walked over to help Sunny with Easy Pete. Trudy and Ringo sat down on the porch and just let the adrenaline drain from their bodies. Everything was once again peaceful in Goodsprings.
XXXXXX
Time skip; 7:29pm 10/19/2281
The fighters were celebrating their triumph in the saloon. It was a sight to behold in Goodsprings. The jukebox blared like crazy, with a few people dancing around the pool table. Hell Ruby, even with her arm in a sling, was dancing on the pool table. Sunny was tending to Cheyenne, who wouldn't stop wagging her tail and licking her owners face. Ringo was busy chatting with Turdy about getting more trade caravans down near Goodsprings and maybe even a steady trade route. Jasper was working the bar, and mainly tending to Vanessa's over excessive drinking, which Miles couldn't figure out if it was just for the celebration or if this was how she normally was.
And Miles just sat at one of the tables savoring a bottle of whiskey. He observed everyone as they went about partying, but his mind was elsewhere. Now that this whole Powder Ganger fiasco was over, his mind was back on the men that tried to kill Ruby and him. Who was this man in a checkered suit and why did he take their package. They had to hurry up and leave so they could find him. "Something on your mind?" He looked up and saw that it was Vanessa who was talking to him,
"Yeah, but it's sort of a personal problem me and Ruby are having right now." he said.
"Let me guess, relationship trouble?" She asked jokingly.
"No, nothing like that."
"Other than that I can only guess a vendetta off some sort."
"That's correct. We're planning on hunting him down and getting back the package he stole from us."
"Dude killed you for a delivery?! Must have been something important."
"Don't know how it could be. It was just a poker chip. Though it was made out of platinum."
"A platinum chip? Now that is strange." Vanessa said before taking a swig from her bottle. "And strange usually means it's important."
"Well, we'll find out soon enough. We plan on leaving tomorrow."
"You guys care for some extra hands?" Vanessa asked. This caused Miles to raise a brow. "Jasper and i figured that since the town now has a standing militia force we could get back to our travels, and leave Sunny to keep an eye on things. So, what's you're answer?"
"Vanessa and Jasper were both capable fighters, and good shots. Vanessa had proved that when the Gangers attacked. Judging by the way she moved around in battle he would have guessed that she had some sort of training. "It does seem like we'll need some extra hands, if we're gonna track this guy down. I have to say yes."
"Sweet. So, where are we heading?"
"Primm, hoping someone there will have answers for us."
"Alright, I'll go tell Jasp'." she then got up and went back to the bar.
'Who are you checkered suit man?' Miles thought as he went back to drinking his whiskey.