Josh snapped up from his bed in the shelter, he had a cold sweat on his skin. He looked over to see Jessie awake as he prodded the fire, the flames cast shadows on the dark skinned mans face. Josh slung his legs out of the bed and felt the cold ground on the soles of his callused feet. The former ranger reached in his pack and grabbed a bottle of whiskey; he took a good long drink from the bottle. The alcohol scalded as it went down his throat, the feeling helped to dull other pains that Josh had.
"Ey, Mon pass that over here" Jessie said as he held out a hand, Josh paced the bottle to Jessie. Jessie took a small swig and set the bottle down by his feet, Josh placed his head in his hands.
"So, what you dreaming about Josh?" Jessie asked in his Jamaican accent.
"When we nearly killed Vulpus" Josh said as he looked down at his chest a scar laid on the left side of his chest.
"I remember, you smashed his face into a fire and where about to blow his brains out" Jessie said "then those people came and saved him" Josh closed his eyes as his mind drifted back to that day…
Vulpus and Josh stood facing one another, the fires that burned around them from the firefight that had occurred in the village moments before between Josh and his team against what remained of the legion. Vulpus ran at Josh his arm back to take a swing at the ranger. Josh say it coming and ducked under the wild swing and quickly kicked Vulpus in the back. The man turned around, the two faced each other down and then the fight began. Vulpus swinging at Josh as the ranger used his training in CQC to block the attacks and wait for the enraged legion leader to mess up, Vulpus did not disappoint. The man took a large kick at Josh; the ranger caught it and took Vulpus to the ground hard. Josh then began to punch every inch of Vulpus's face that he could find. Vulpus then caught one of Josh's fists and threw him off, Josh rolled into a wooden wall that was slightly charred, and Vulpus charged him and tackled him through it. Vulpus then tried to kick Josh in the ribs but the ranger was to fast as he caught the foot. Josh then wrapped his arms around Vulpus's angles and drove him to the ground. Vulpus kicked Josh in the face; Josh grabbed his nose and felt blood run down his face. Vulpus stood up and faced Josh, the ranger stood facing the man who murdered his wife rage in his one eye that he still had. Vulpus spat blood on the ground from the split lip he had from the brawl, Josh whipped blood from under hi broken nose.
"Bring you mother fucker!" Josh yelled at Vulpus. Vulpus scowled and charged at Josh, the ranger quickly threw one arm under Vulpus and hooked his left arm over Vulpus's and used the charging man's momentum to throw him over his right hip and into the burning ashes behind the two. Vulpus was shocked for a brief second before he started punching at Josh from the ground; Josh answered each blow with one of his own. Vulpus grabbed a piece of timber and swung it for the rangers head, a clung followed its connection to Josh's head. Josh fell of Vulpus and stood up dazed and looked up to see the wooden club head for his face so he quickly ducked and as he stood up he brought an uppercut into Vulpus kidneys. The ranger grabbed Vulpus long hair and yanked him back and planted his elbow into Vulpus face. Vulpus whipped around, his hair came loose in a few places in Josh's hand. Josh threw a punch but the legion leader caught it and delivered a kick to Josh's gut. Josh hunched over from the solid kick, he recovered quickly and swung his own kick which smashed into Vulpus knee, and Josh saw an opening and took it. He punched the blonde haired man in the face, who bent over grabbing his face. Josh then used his hands to force Vulpus face to make contact with his knee that was rocketing upwards. A solid smash was heard as the two connected and a loud yelp from Vulpus. Josh how ever was not finished, he grabbed the man and through him at the burning wall. Vulpus fell through it and landed on a broken piece of wood on the other side, the sound of screaming was heard over the fire's cracklings. Vulpus looked down at the piece of wood that protruded from his chest; blood oozed from it and fell over the ground. Josh stepped through the hole in the wall that was made by Vulpus, the fire around the edges made Josh look like the devil himself coming for Vulpus. Vulpus coughed up blood and felt heat on his face from the small fire that was burning near him. The whole wrecked town was on fire from the few incendiary grenades that had been used in the fight. Josh walked over to Vulpus and kicked the wooden stack that he was stuck on so it snapped and was pushed even farther through the man's chest. Vulpus screamed out from the pain as the wood splintered and forced itself through his body. Josh grabbed him and threw him face first into the fire, Vulpus started to scream as his face began to burn. Josh drew his revolver and aimed it for the back of Vulpus head. The sound of something whirring drew his attention as he looked up to see a vertibird landing near him, the door opened and out of the hatch came four people wearing solid black power armor that Josh didn't recognize. One of the four raised a rifle and fired, the round impacted Josh's chest.
"And then you got shot in the chest" Jessie said as he looked up at the former ranger "but they didn't know that your heart is on the other side of your chest"
Josh stood up from his bed and walked out of the shelter to the water through and plunged his head under the surface. He stood back up the cold water waking him, he looked toward the rest stops store and saw jack walking his way holding a pack.
"What you got Jack?" Josh asked as the SS agent walked over to him.
"More food and water can never have enough of it" Jack said as he opened the sack, a bunch of wrapped slabs of meat and a good amount of water jugs were in the sack. Josh grunted and they walked over to the shelter, Jessie was busy putting his combat armor back on. Josh walked over to Nikoli's bed and kicked him lightly in the ribs; Nikoli woke with a start as the foot connected.
"Get up, damn russkie" Josh said as the grizzly Russian sat up and shock his head.
"Still a better wake up then boot camp" Nikoli grumbled.
"Not for me mon I had it good in the cage better than having to get up to your ugly mug every morning" Jessie said as he looked through his pack that he had got last night.
"Ugly?" Nikoli stood up and gestured to himself "this my friends is the pinnacle of Russian grace and beauty"
"Yeah, all the grace and beauty of a bighorner" Jack snapped causing the trio to look at him. The four stood in silence before they burst into laughter at the comment. Jessie leaned on Nikoli for support; Josh was holding his gut and Jack chuckled to himself. Jessie slipped of Nikoli's shoulder and ended up face planting into a bucket of water that slopped all over him. Jessie did not flip out as everyone though he would but stood up and faced Josh, the Bucket on his head.
"Comrade Grimm, comrade Owens reporting" Jessie said in a mocking Russian accent "what is my mission?"
"You are to spread communism through out the world, Comrade Owens. Go do not fail the motherland!" Josh order in his mocking accent.
"Yes, Comrade Grimm. I will gladly spread communism and bend over and take it so the town drunk can get drunk!"
The entire group was now roaring with laughter, Nikoli then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. The others chuckled but then looked at Nikoli as if he was a little strange.
"Nikoli, what you are doing mon?" Jessie asked still chuckling as he took the bucket of his head.
"I am communicating with the voodoo sprits, they tell me that Jessie was not lying when he said he bends over and takes it" Nikoli said in a fake Jamaican accent. The group roared with laughter once again.
"All right, enough guys grab your gear and let's get a move on, we got a walk ahead of us" Josh said as he put his gear back on. The others nodded and in a few minutes everyone was ready to go. They headed out from the shelter and walked over to the broken road and began to follow it towards Sloan. The walked along in silence for while, not an uncomfortable silence but a friendly one. The four men walked along but something in the distance on the road caught their attention, it looked like a few figures. Josh grabbed his hunting rifle and looked down the scope at the figures.
"Its okay, just some traveling merchants" Josh said "hang on a minute" The group stopped as Josh continued to observe the group ahead of them, one of the figures he could identify as a man in leather armor was holding his arm, one had a limp and another was on one of the Brahmins back's. All the men had one thing in common and that was they were covered in blood.
"Guys their wounded, come on they need help" Josh said slinging his rifle back up and took of at a run for the group ahead of them, the others followed suit. The four reached them in a relatively short time. Josh went up to the one holding his arm; the man looked up at him expecting Josh to try to rob them.
"You guys look like you been through hell" Josh said.
"Yeah, we just went through Sloan to try to sell merchandise, the entire fucking place is over run by deathclaw" the man said "It looks like the entire town was whipped out, we didn't find any bodies but there was a good deal of blood"
"Fuck, that's were going" Jack said as he helped the one man down from the back of the brahmin.
"what's your name?" Josh asked the man.
"Cody, the one with the leg injury is James and the one that your pal just helped down is Ben" Cody said as he clutched his arm.
"Come on lets get you three off the road so we can get these wounds treated better" Josh said to Cody.
"No, how do I know you won't jump me and my brothers as soon as we get off the road?" Cody asked aggressively.
"I give you my word, no one will jump you" Josh said.
"How do I know I can trust you? what if your khans or fiends?" Cody asked as he looked from one man to another.
"Ill tells you who we are with, Jack Garrett. Secret Service" Jack said.
"you guys work for Jaggers?" Cody asked, the group nodded "I guess that will work for me"
Jess walked down the stairs in the lucky thirty-eight's pent house, she was dressed in a pair of old jeans and a white tank top. She walked over to Jason, who was standing at the massive window; he gazed out at the land that he resided over. Jason turned to face the girl as she walked up to him.
"Ah, miss Monroe" Jason said as he took one of her hands and kissed it "a pleasure to meet you, I must say Josh is a lucky man"
"thank you" Jess said blushing a bit.
"I hope you find your new home to be acceptable?" Jason asked as he led her to the circle of couches and chairs. He poured himself a glass of scotch and then leaned back a bit in his seat and looked at the women in front of him.
"Yes, when Josh told me I couldn't believe it" Jess said "its great and these last few days have bee great but a lot to take"
"How so?" Jason asked.
"Well, yesterday I worked as an escort at the Atomic Wrangler, then I got engaged to the most wonderful man I have ever known, get told that will live in the most luxurious home and that we will have enough caps to enjoy our time together" Jess said "but first he must go on one more mission, I hope he will come back" Jess said a little down cast as she thought about what would happen if he was killed.
"I see, but I will tell you Josh will make it back from this mission" Jason said as he took a small sip of his drink.
"How can you be so sure?" Jess asked him "I know he was a ranger and that most of his team were as well but still he this mission is crazy"
"Josh is a very skilled ranger, and a natural leader which will help him and those he leads. However Josh is different then most today, he is not some mercenary with no loyalty, or a raider looking for his next sick fix but a man that stands for something, someone who fights for those he loves. Josh fought in the third war with the legion; he is a rare breed, a man willing to lay his very life down for total strangers. Someone that will always help a person in need and defend those who can't defend themselves" Jason said "he will make it back because he fights for something, not to get something"
"He is killing Vulpus, its revenge" Jess said. Jess never liked violence, and the idea of Josh going across the wastes and killing Vulpus in revenge made her angry and sad, sad that someone with such character would sink to revenge.
"That could very well be part of the reason he is going, but Vulpus also has his daughter" Jason said taking another sip "one that according to my sources, questions her adopted father and is confused as to what to believe. Josh is going to rescue his daughter and he also recognizes that the legion poses the biggest threat to the NCR. He is going to whip them out to save the lives of his country men"
Jess thought about what Jason had said about Josh, he always did believe in what the NCR stood for and I have seen him defend total, helpless strangers in the bar at the Wrangler from getting beat up for no reason. Jess looked at Jason he was busy staring at her; he took another drink and then set it down on a trey that a securitron behind him was holding.
"Miss Monroe" Jason began "please enjoy an evening in New Vegas on me. I will have some caps brought to your room so you do not use the money Josh asked me to give you in return for his service"
"Thank, you. thank you very much" Jess said standing "I have never been in one of the strip casinos before"
"Well, you must go in style then. I will have one of my assistants bring you a nice selection of fine outfits" Jess nodded and walked back towards the stairs, a picture on a table caught her eye. She looked at it; pictures were not common in the wasteland from the lack of functioning cameras. A women with bright red hair and green eyes that could light up a room looked back up at her, a younger Jason stood next to her. The women was on Jason's shoulders and both of the people in the picture smiled up at her. Jess looked back at Jason and didn't see the mythical ruler of the strip anymore but a man. Jason was straying into space. Jess walked up the stairs and entered the elevator and head back to the suite that Jason had given her and Josh as a new home. Jason then stood up and walked to the large room next to the lounging area, as he called it and saw the giant computers screen in front of him.
"Yes man, get me Agent Charlie I want an update on what she has found" Jason said.
Josh and the other three men walked silently along the edge of one of the homes sheet metal shacks in Sloan and looked around. they had not seen a deathclaw yet but tracks everywhere indicated their presence in the area. Josh watched carefully, his ears seemed to be picking up every sound as the Four man team moved silently through the ghost town, weapons up and at the ready. They stayed back to back to prevent anything from sneaking up on them. Josh says a sign on one of the buildings that read "lab", he quickly opened the door and stepped inside the building, his team mates followed him into the structure. Inside lab equipment was every were, on the desk was terminal and the light on the wall indicated it was on and working.
"Jack stay hidden and watch the door knock if you see a deathclaw" Josh said. Jack nodded and activated his suits field and headed back out the door making sure to close it quietly behind him. Josh sat down in the chair and looked at screen of the terminal; it read "Terminal Locked".
"Nikoli, you were always the hacker get me into this things and lets see what clues we cant find as to were Scott got to" Josh said standing up from the chair as the large Russian man went behind the desk and sat down in the chair. Josh decided to take a look around the lab; Jessie was busy looking at some sort of large eggs that was in an incubator of some sorts. Josh shrugged and picked up one of the books that lay on the desk and flipped through some of the pages. The book was a written journal; Josh stopped on a random page and began to read.
Date 10, September, 2230.
Today I think I found a break through in my research into deathclaw, this one however not a scientific one was. I went up to Jacobs town to see if I could borrow the notes and other reports that doctor Henry used, to make a more stable and safe version of the stealth boy. I talked to Marcus, good friend; he was interested in my work in the study of deathclaw I was performing. He told me about how he and a tribal he traveled with meet a clan of the creature s that were intelligent enough to talk and even more so set up a culture. Their language he said still used many sounds and other animal like forms of communication but a few had learned English but it was hard on some of those in the tribe. This fascinated me; I had to learn more about the idea of intelligent death claws.
Josh looked up and saw Jessie studying the egg that was in the incubator and it suddenly dawned on him.
"That better not be what I think it is" Josh said as he walked over to it. The eggs had some wires going into it and monitors on the glass cage should the life signs of the creature growing inside. Jessie nodded in response as he caught what Josh was saying, Jessie shock his head.
"What is it?" Nikoli asked in his thick Russian accent.
"It looks like Scott was trying to raise a small clutch of deathclaw" Josh said a he examined the eggs "and from what I read in one of the journal entries he wrote, he was trying to make these as smart as we are"
Nikoli began to read through some of the information on the screen of the terminal and looked back up at Josh. "You guessed right and if these stuff makes sense to him and its right I would say it succeeded" Nikoli said.
"Yeah but something tells me that the mother wants here eggs back" Josh said to his group. He grabbed his service rifle of the ground and flicked the safety off.
"Wait, Josh don't kill the young ones" Jessie said "if this project works he has created something that is as good as being human"
"I was not going to kill them, because Scott would get pissed" Josh said. The two in the room looked at his questioning looks on their faces.
"We all know it would take more than a few deathclaw to take Scott out" Josh said "now download whatever is on that terminal and let's go find our lost friend"
Nikoli quickly downloaded the data to his PIP-BOY and the trio walked back outside of the small shack. Jack uncloaked and looked at Josh through the visor of the hood that accompanied his suit. Jack had to put it on when ever he used the cloaking of the suit to make it so he was fully invisible otherwise it would look like there was a floating head.
"so what did you guys find?" Jack asked.
"Not much, just that Scott was a nut and try…" Nikoli began but stopped mid sentence. The color drained from his face and his eyes grew wide. At the other end of the small cramped town was five, large deathclaw and all five had a "WTF?" look on their faces but before they attacked two of the creature's heads exploded in a bloody mess. The deaths were accompanied by a loud thunderous gunshot. The group of men looked up at the ridge for the source of the shot. Standing on the ridge was two men dressed in NCR ranger combat armor, the trench coats bellowed out behind them in the winds that Sloan was famous for; both of the men had anti-material rifles in their hands.
"Run!" yelled one of the men.
Shorter than usual but just wanted to leave that little cliffhanger.