Josh, Nikoli, and Jack stepped jumped down from the ladder that lead from the surface entrance of the fight club known as the Thorn. It was set in and old sewer station that had been made into an arena, the fight pit still had the blood stain of previous conflicts in it and the smell of death ran rampant through out the facility. The trio was now once again fully armed, the crowd of people parted for them as they walked through to the bar of the club. They reached the bar, a converted maintenance area with the large bench serving as the bar counter; a line of bar stools with some men looking people was along one side. Josh motioned for Jack and Nikoli to go watch his back; this was a fight club full of drunk, angry, men who are always looking for a fight. Josh sat down at the bar; he managed to blend in with the men at the bar quite well, with his eye patch and the large scar across his face. The bar tender, a ghoul wearing a white shirt and brown pants, walked over to Josh as he put his hand up to motion the man over.
"What can I get you?" the ghoul said in his raspy voice.
"Whiskey and some information" Josh said as he placed some caps on the table. The bartender leaned over the counter so that his face was closer, he looked let and right quickly before taking the caps and pocketing them.
"What ya need to know?" he asked the former ranger.
"Jessie Owens's" Josh said as he took a drink from the glass of whiskey.
"The slave fighter that Annie owns?" the bartender asked.
"Yeah, sure that would be him" Josh said.
"Well, he was an NCR ranger for awhile I heard" the bartender said.
"Good now tell me were they keeping the slaves" Josh said to the bartender he motioned with his hand but the tender couldn't see it.
"Cant tell you that, Annie will have my head if I do" the ghoul said.
"Ill give you one more chance to tell me exactly what I want to know" Josh said as he straightened up in his chair.
"Or what?" the ghouls said putting a 44 magnum revolver down on the table. The mans eyes widened, a slight shimmer was seen near him but an untrained or drunk person would miss it complete.
"You have to choice, tell us or get your brains splattered all over the bar" Josh said taking a drink "it's up to you"
"What the hell is going on here?" the ghouls asked loudly drawing the attention of a few people. The bartender looked around at the crowd; they went back to their drinks rather quickly figuring it was just to men getting into a fight.
"Jessie Owens is needed by the SS" Josh said "and pressed up against the side of your head is a 10mm pistol being held by my ghostly friend"
"The slave pens are on the bottom level, follow the tunnels from the cages in the arena" the ghoul said, the shimmer moved on.
"Thanks for your time sir" Josh said. He stood up and walked back to the balcony that over looked the arena, Nikoli stood leaning up on the railing. Josh walked over and stood by the large Russian man.
"So, what did we find out about Jessie?" Nikoli asked shifting so his one arm rested on the bar and he faced Josh.
"He is a slave fighter for the owner of this place" Josh said as Jack deactivated the cloaking of his suit. He wore the entire thing and had removed his jacket which explained what Nikoli currently and folded up and over on arm. The three stood in a somewhat secluded corner of the Thorn.
"How the fuck did Jessie end up a slave?" Nikoli asked Josh.
"My guess his big mouth or a lost gamble" Josh said "doesn't matter, ask him once Jack gets him back here"
"and how do I go about doing that?" Jack asked the former ranger.
"Me and Nikoli will watch your back from up here. You sneak down to the slave cage and get Jessie out, those tunnels will also be full of dangerous animals" Josh said as he faced back to the arena that was down in the floor. Now fighting was a deathclaw and a few fighters.
"And let me guess, you will find away to get us an exit from the arena to back up here to get out?" Jack asked Josh. Josh nodded, Jack looked down at the arena and activated the cloaking device on his wrist and disappeared from view.
"So, how will we make an exit for those two?" Nikoli asked in his deep Russian accent. Josh smiled, then pulled out his revolver and checked the ammo for it.
"That the easy part, how you feel about getting into some serious shit?" Josh asked his comrade.
"You know sometimes its hard to be your friend" Nikoli said as he looked back at the fight that was currently in the arena, the deathclaw had ripped the last man apart with it s massive clawed hands.
Jess walked down from her and Josh's room in the casino, the Atomic Wrangler to the bar of the wrangler and sat down. She was dressed in a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt with a leather jacket that Josh had given her for her birthday a few weeks ago. She was still looking at the ring that now resided on her finger, Stephen walked over to her.
"What going on Jess?" Stephan asked the her.
"Not much but I have some news" Jess said as she placed her hand on the table, one of her friends sat down next to her, she was an escort to. She looked down at Jess's hand and than back up to her, a large smile on her face. She had long black hair and blue eyes as well, her name was Morgan.
"Jess, what is with the ring?" Morgan asked her.
"Josh finally asked me the question, I am getting married Morgan" Jess said "and I am done with being a whore Stephan"
"Well, I knew this day was coming" Stephan said "look you got no where to stay and no work if you quit but I'll tell you what ill do. You can stay into the room till you get a home and work at the tables as a dealer for now"
"Thanks Stephan" Jess said. Two men then walked through the door of the wrangler and walked up to the bar, they stood on either side of Jess who now looked quite nervous.
"Miss Monroe, if you will follow use we will take you to your new home in the lucky thirty eight" said one of the men. The two people that Jess was talking with, jaws dropped at what they had just heard. Jess got up and nodded to the two men and followed them out the door.
Jack jumped from the ledge of the balcony over looking the arena in the Thorn, he grabbed on to pipes as he moneyed his way down to the floor of the fight clubs ring. The blood of the previous fight covered the floor; the bodies of the men who had volunteered to fight the deathclaw were in chunks all over the arena floor. The deathclaw was trained to recognize the trainers that wore green as friends, the trainers had come out to take the animal back to its cage. The deathclaw followed the trainers through a large gate and walked into a tunnel that was on the other side of the gate, Jack followed close behind his stealth suits cloaking field keeping him well hidden from the beast and people in front of him. The trainers lead the deathclaw into its cage, were the best curled up into a ball. Jack watched as the trainers then went to work healing the creature's injuries, they applied a few bandages over the few wounds it had. Jack saw a patrol of three men walking his way; they were talking about some of the fighting that had happened tonight. The more of these men I take out before hand, the easier it will be to get back out once I break Jessie out of here Jack thought as he took cover behind a crate. The stealth system on the suit wasn't perfect, the faster one moved the more visible they became to the naked eye. Jack smiled from under the visor of the suit as an idea popped into his head. He quickly sprinted across the tunnels gap and up the wall and grabbed onto a pipe, his plan had worked out perfectly.
"What the fuck was that!" said the man that was leading the group of men. The three were armed with chins' assault rifles, a weapon that had began to appear when the east coast brotherhood had sent back a group of men that sold one to the gun runners who promptly began to make the weapon in bulk.
"I don't know it was black what ever it was, and fast" a man from the patrol said as he began to advance down the hallway towards were Jack was hiding by hanging on the pipes that ran the length of the ceiling. He began to sling down the pipe to the man in the back. At this point the trainer that were working on the deathclaw had come out and looked around, the enemies that Jack faced now was five plus that deathclaw if it came out of its cage. That thing better stay the fuck put, I am not on the menu Jack thought as he continued to inch his way down the pipe. He reached his destination, right behind the man that was in the back of the group, Jack then silently drew his combat knife. He let go with both arms and swung down behind the man, far enough away that he didn't alert the man. He grabbed the mans head and slit his throat, the guard then gurgled and died as his comrades turned to see what the noise was. Jack jumped down from the pipe and rolled to onside and ended up behind a crate.
"On man, fuck it got James" said one of the guards as he frantically began scanning the tunnel with the end of his gun. Jack picked up a rock and tossed it into the pipes on the ceiling, the four remaining guards all looked up at the ceiling, and two had flashlights and scanned the pipes. Jack ran foreword and plunged his knife into the guard who was closest to him got his knife throught the back of his skull. He hit the ground with a clatter of metal as he dropped his gun; the three living men all looked at the now dead man.
"Fuck, shit, not good" said one of them as he turned to run away. Jack didn't need any of them getting away to alert the others, so he grabbed a knife from his suit and threw it at the fleeing man. The blade stuck in the guard's spine and made him fall over paralyzed but he landed on his back from the twist that he developed as he fell, so the knife was now forced through his entire chest cavity. Before the other two guards could react Jack smashed his fist into one of their faces, the mans head snapped back but he remained somewhat conscious. His partner turned to face the assailant but jack was just a blur as he kicked the other man into the wall. The SS agent deactivated the cloaking device so the quick motions of the fight wouldn't over load it, to much quick movement overloaded its processor and resulted in a cool down period. The men were taken back be the sudden appearance of the agent. Jack used this to his advantage and charged at one of the men who did exactly what Jack expected, he went for a punch. The mans arm rocketed for Jacks face plate of the helmet of the stealth suit. Jack rolled to one side and shoot out for the mans leg, he stayed low almost on the ground. The man's leg bulked under the impact of Jacks weight slamming into it, the guard went down only to get kicked in the face as the agent rolled through the take down and connect his foot with the mans head. The other guard had managed to get of the floor and pick up his weapon in the few seconds that jack had needed to take down his partner. Jack took a few quick steps at the man as the guard tried to load in the magazine since it had clattered out when the gun hit the floor. The agents hand shoots out and gripped the fore grip of the rifle and placed his foot behind the guard's foot. Jack grabbed the guards throat and forced him back and over his leg so that he landed on the ground hard, the rifle was still in the guards hand the was pointed up. Jack stepped around the arms gripped the mans hand with both of his and twisted as hard as he could, the result was a few good pops and the would be scream was drowned out by Jacks knee that rested on the guards throat, chocking the man. The other guard and stumbled to his feet, blood ran down the mans face from his broken nose. Jack saw the guard go for his pistol, the agent ran at him, he was only a few feet away, and slammed his hand onto the front end of the 9mm pistol. The chamber unlocked and the guards trigger pull was meet with a click form his weapon. Jack gripped the mans wrist with the same hand after sliding it down from the gun and forced his other hand up through the man's elbow with his full strength, he even put his legs and back into it, the guards elbow was then bent at the wrong angle which resulted in a scream that was silenced as Jack grabbed the mans knife from his belt and brought it up through the guards lower jaw. Jack heard the sound of something heavy hit the floor, he ran fore the gate on the cage of the deathclaw door and slammed it shut just as the beast came charging at him from the back of its dwelling. Jack walked over to the man whose arm he had destroyed; the guard was gripping the wrecked limb and moaned in pain. Jack gripped the man and brought him to the face level so that he was looking right into the red visor of Jacks helmet.
"Jessie Owens, what cage?" Jack asked the voice scrambler in the mouth piece of the helmet making him sound like some sort of robot.
"Down the tunnel, ta-take a left and it, it will be the fourth cage on, the ri-right" that guard said through the pain.
"Your arms will heal but I cant risk you going of for help" Jack said as he twirled the man around and put him in a choke hold and silently choked him out to where he was unconscious and leaned him up against the wall, his arm raised to help it from being to much of a mess.
Josh and Nikoli walked up to the desk were they could sign up to fight in the arena, the women behind the desk looked up at the two of them.
"We want in the arena" Josh said to the women.
"All right, here's how it works when outsiders jump in the fights. You survive a round you get money, after each round if you are alive you can back out or go again. I will needed your names"
"Simple, I like it" Nikoli said as he grabbed his shotgun and cycled the round into the chamber "when do we start"
"I like your attitude" said a seductive voice from behind the two former rangers, they turned to see Annie, the owner of the Thorn. Her skin thigh leather arm left little to imagine and her bright red hair and blue eyes stared at them in a predatory like manor.
"What's your name big boy?" Annie asked Nikoli as she ran a finger under his jaw, the long nail nipping his chin.
"Nikoli Breshnev, Zaychik moy" Nikoli said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it. Nikoli's suave nature once again worked in his favor as Annie smiled at him.
"How charming, a man with manors" She then went to Josh and looked at him, she stared at his face.
"I know of you, you are the bounty hunter they call Reaper" Annie said, Josh stood still as she walked around him "The one who killed camps of legion troops, would kill anyone for the right price"
"The one and the same" Josh said as he looked down at the woman who is as infamous in the wasteland as the legendary deathclaw.
"Ill be looking foreword to seeing you two in the ring" Annie said. The two men watched as she walked away, Nikoli's eyes specifically following her butt as she strutted away. Josh whipped his hand around and hit Nikoli in the back of the head. The Russians head snapped foreword a bit and then looked at Josh. Josh shook his head as the two walked into through the door to the arena entrance, Nikoli punched Josh in the shoulder. They walked into the entrance of the arena and say the attendant.
"All right you two drop the firearms into the crate along with anything else you wish to remain undamaged in the fight" The rangers dropped their jackets into the crate and then faced the door, the metal entrance clanged open as the main part dropped into the floor and the locks undid. The two rangers stepped out and saw their opponents, a group of four men.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, ring your attention to the ring" the announcer said "In the blue cage we have the four horsemen and their freelancing opponents, the bounty hunter Reaper and Nikoli Brezhnev"
"Ready for this old pal?" Nikoli asked in his Russian accent.
"Yeah, just remember when we get the message back out and make sure we keep that door open" Josh said as he drew his combat knife.
"Let's get ready to Rumble!" the announcer yelled over the roar of the crowd.
Jessie Owens sat in the back of his cell, the two guards outside of it stood like statues. Jessie's long dreadlocks fell around his face as he leaned foreword and looked at the floor with his brown eyes. His dark toned face bore the scars of many fights; his body showed this as well, a long scar ran the length of his chest. He sat in the dark in the only clothing that Annie saw fit to give him, a pair of burlap pants that where held up by a rope and a few ranges as some what of a vest, a pair of shackles entrapped his wrists, his cloths hung onto his five foot ten, lean built frame. He picked up a rock and threw it at one of the guards, it hit him in the head and the man whipped around and glared at Jessie.
"Do that again and I will beat your ass whole sale, slave" the man said.
"What ever you say mon" Jessie said with his in his deep voice with his Jamaican accent covering his words, something he gained from his family. The guard then turned and faced the tunnel again looking straight foreword. Jessie picked up a bigger rock and hit the other guard in the back of the head. The two turned around and glared daggers that the black man as he sat in the corner chuckling, the one guard opened the cell door.
"Oh please mon, I could take you both. Even with these chains around my wrists" Jessie said taunting the guards. One opened his mouth but the words never formed as both guards were suddenly forced to the ground, blood pooled around them.
"Oh shit, this is not irie" Jessie said as he stood to face the open cell gate, there was a watery blur in the open gate way.
"Jessie Owens?" a voice asked in a rather robotic and scrambled fashion.
"Yeah, looks like death finally going to catch me" Jessie said. Jessie's eyes opened wide as a figure materialized in front of him. The thing was humanoid and wore some sort of skin tight armor, with plates around the chest and on the shoulders. More steel protected the fore arms and legs of the figure, tactical gear were strapped to the figure. The things head was protected by a fully incasing hood that had a metal mouth piece, a visor in a steel plate that protected the head covered the wear's head. The hood mad many small metal plates that protected the skull of the thing that Jessie had now decided was a man in some sort of armor. The man grabbed the hood and pulled it back over his head and exposed his features. The man had shaggy brown hair and bright green eyes set on a some what Asian looking face.
"My names Jack Garret, I am with the SS and here with Josh and Nikoli to bust you out of here" Jack said.
"Well, much thanks Jack but were be my old friends mon?" Jessie asked the agent.
"in the arena making sure we have away out" Jack said as he bent down and picked up one of the guards key rings and tossed it to the slave fighter "here get those shackles off"
Jessie caught the keys and begin to try the different ones out and found the one that worked, the heavy metal shackle fell from one wrist then the other. The chain fell and gathered on the floor of the cell with a loud, tinkling clang. Jessie looked up at jack who had stripped one of the guards of his armor, gear and weapons and pushed the pile to the dark skinned man. Jessie smiled and nodded as he picked up the armor and began to put the olive green combat armor on. He put the 12.7mm pistol in its holster and picked up the Chinese assault rifle and checked the chamber for a round and then looked back at the agent. Jack grabbed his hood and pulled it back over his head, once again his voice came out scrambled.
"Let's get out of here" Jack said as he pulled his assault carbine up and started down the hallway.
"right behind ya mon" Jessie said as he stepped from his cell into freedom.
Nikoli and Josh currently stood in the arena; the area around them had the bodies of a few men and now a pack of coyotes that Annie had tried to use to defeat them. The two stood back to back as the ruler of the Thorn stood up from her seat and glared down at the men in the arena. Josh heard a small beep from his PIP-BOY and looked down to see a message form Jack "Have Jessie". Josh then held up his arms above his head to single that he was done, Nikoli did the same. Annie scuffed as the assistant came out and escorted them from the ring and back to the red cage, not good Jack had to go through the blue side Josh thought as the door back to the waiting area opened. The two former rangers and the assistant stepped inside; Josh waited till he was inside the room and the door shut before he turned around and punched the man right in the nose. The man's head snapped back right into Nikoli's waiting hand; the Russian then promptly smashed the man's head against the wall. The assistant slouched to the ground unconscious, Josh quickly moved him of into an outcome.
"Come on let's get our gear back on and open this door" Nikoli said as he quickly began putting his tactical gear back on and grabbed his shotgun. Josh ran over to the crate and threw his gear on; he grabbed his service rifle and ran to the door. He quickly ran to the door and pressed himself against the wall on the other side of the door from where Nikoli was pressed against the wall as well; he had his SMG in hand. Josh held up his hand and counted down with three fingers and opened the door. The two man looked into the arena and saw the door on the other side open up and saw Jack in his full suit and Jessie in olive drab combat armor. Josh's ears picked up the sound of guns being readied and Annie's voice that echoed over the arena.
"Kill them both!" she yelled as she realized that her prized slave fighter was about to escape. Josh and Nikoli stepped out of the door and took aim at the guards that surrounded the arenas perimeter on walk ways lower then were the citizens watched the fights. Josh waved his hand at the two and yelled out to them.
"Move!" Josh yelled as he opened fire on the guard he had sighted down on, the man's head exploded from the round impacting his head. The arena roared with gunfire as the four men on the floor opened fire upon the men on the balconies. Josh and Nikoli pumped rounds at the men as fast as they could, the men that didn't get in cover fast enough landed on the ground dead. The whole fight lasted a few seconds as the two men sprinted across the arena and through the doorway, Josh and Nikoli slowly walked back to the door keeping fire down range at the guards on the catwalks that surrounded the walls. Jessie hit the switch for the door as they walked through the door, the large steel plates of the door slammed shut. Josh turned and looked at Jessie; he wrapped the man in a hug. Jessie embraced him and then Nikoli; he stepped back and smiled at his old friends.
"My old friends it is good to see you" Jessie said as he placed his hands back on his rifle.
"good to see you now we got about five more seconds before the guards come to kill us so lets save the reunion" Jack said as he checked around the corner. Josh nodded and the four took up positions behind Jack and they moved around the corner. Jack lead them up the stairs and to the next hall, the door at the other end opened up and the sound of something hitting the metal floor rang out. Jack ran foreword and kicked the grenade that one of the guards had tossed into the hall, the explosive went flying back out the door and exploded. The four then rushed the door and stormed out of it. Guards were coming at them but before they could fire off any rounds that would accurately hit the four men they were being hit by rounds from the rifles of the team. The four stormed along one side of the arenas perimeter that surrounded it from the top. The guards that tried to attack the four men were dropped as the team worked together to cover each other as they crossed across the large room. They stormed through the door that lead to the ladder up to the surface; they crouched around the base of the ladder.
"Jessie up the ladder first!" Josh ordered the former ranger. The dark skinned man quickly climbed up the ladder and opened the man hole to the surface and put his gun back through the opening to cover the next man up the ladder.
"Nikoli, Move!" Josh yelled as the door opened up at the end of the small tunnel that lead to the ladder. A few more guards were on the other side but the moment they were visible to the four's sights they were engulfed in fire from the weapons. The few guards that were not killed in the fire dove back around the door way and took cover.
"Jack up the ladder move it1" Josh yelled. The SS agent quickly ran up the ladder and put the barrel of his gun through the man hole and started to fire at the doorway to keep the guards on the other side from coming back around the corner. Josh turned and sprinted up the ladder and climbed up into the night but before the others shoved the man hole cover back he tossed a grenade down into the ladder way. The cover slammed into its slot and the muffled sound of an explosion rang out. The four men then ran down the road as fast as they could.
Annie sat at her desk in her room in the Thorn, the place was a mess. The fire fight had left twelve of her guard's dead and a few more wounded. None of the citizens had been killed a few wounded but none of them was killed, thankfully. She sipped some vodka from a glass and looked at the four men in front of her; they were dressed in black combat armor. They had a red wolf's head painted on the chest piece of their armor, the red wolves some of the best mercenaries in the wasteland. This group was at the Thorn when the firefight broke out.
"Bring me back those four men's head, I will give you ten thousand a piece" she said to the mercs. The leader looked at his comrades and held out his hand, Annie took it and shook. The four men then exited her office and Annie leaned back in her seat and looked at a letter she had received.
Dear Annie,
I would like to pay you to help me in a matter that is of upmost importance to the legion, Kill Joshua Grimm.
His Majesty,
Vulpus Caesar
Josh, Nikoli, Jack and Jessie had finally stopped running when they had reached the Grub n' Gulp Rest stop. They were sitting around the fire on the make shift bedding that surrounded the fire; the Rest stop had been upgrade by the original owners children. The main rest area, the one they were in had, now had a roof and walls around it making it a more solid shelter, the fire's smoke went out the hole that was in the roof.
"So, Jessie how did you end up as a slave fighter?" Josh asked as he leaned on one of his arms on his bed.
"Well, let me tell you mon, it was no easy task" Jessie began with a chuckle "it started after we chased Vulpus and he got away, I ran with a mercenary group for while that often did good work, no execution or raids for some rich pricks. As time went on they did more I didn't like and ended up trying to leave, so they jumped me with ten men and sold me to Annie as a slave, that was only two years ago. I hated being a slave; I had no freedom and killed for others men enjoyment"
"You always did get in to some shitty situations" Nikoli said in his dead Russian accent. The four men laughed at the comment, Jack had heard some stories about Josh's friends form him but meeting them in person showed them to be more than what they were in the stories.
"Yeah, you did Jessie. I remember after that raid we had to do against the Zoku down in Baja, Arizona" josh said as he pointed at the dark toned man "we got into that fight with a bunch of punks that though they could take us, god how did that even start?"
Jessie laughed as the memory came back to him "I believe it was Nikoli, he was flirting with one of the guy's girls. He didn't like that so we got in a brawl; remember when Scott threw the one into the bar?" Jessie asked laughing harder.
"Yeah and Erick and Billy Pride took out like seven of them" Josh said "man, that went from us six and the eight we were fighting to the entire bar in a few seconds"
Jessie nodded and Nikoli chuckled as he shook his head, the friends smiled as the nostalgic moment passed.
"So, what is going on Josh?" Jessie asked as took a drink from a bottle of whiskey that was being passed around the circle.
"Well, ill start from the beginning…" Josh started and went on to explain the what they were doing, how they had a deadline to get the team back together and then go after the legion once again.
"So, we getting a few new members to the old gang" Jessie said "and then going to destroy our greatest enemy in nuclear fire, I like that part, it will add weight to the story we will tell years from now" Jessie said.
Longest chapter yet, please, please drop a review for this chapter.