Guardian- Ch. 3 Whiskey Boots
I think I might change the rating to M for alcohol and drug use… because we all love to drink in the Mojave Wasteland.
-C
Rose of Sharon Cassidy ordered her third bottle of whiskey. The NCR soldier looked at her, deciding whether or not he should give her the third bottle. Cass made his decision for him. Grabbing the bottle and pouring herself a shot, she placed some caps on the table.
"Thank you." She toasts to him and takes her shot. She could feel the warm liquid going down, her body relishing the taste of it. Cass hollered and slammed her shot glass down. Ready to pour herself another glass, Cass yelled at the bartender to turn on the radio. The NCR soldier shook his head but went to turn it on.
The sounds of Marty Robbins filled the bar and Cass swayed. Memories started to flood in, remembering one memory when she was fairly young. She could remember her father singing several old country songs, particular El Paso by Marty Robbins. She was on his lap and he would be drinking his whiskey, playing on the harmonica to this one song.
Tears started to well up as she drank her whiskey. There were several things that her father left to her: her name, the pendant that hang on her neck, and his name. The caravan was in danger to become extinct. She only had her load sitting outside the Mojave outpost. Cass heard the one of the few caravans was attacked and taken out. She was sad to find out some of her closest friends were taken out.
But the thing is, her caravans weren't the only ones being attacked. Smaller companies were being raided and taken out by unknown assailants. She thought raiders at first but the attacks seemed too organized for hopped up druggies. No, someone was purposefully taking out the competition.
Since she was at a NCR outpost, she thought she would talk to them about the attacks. Yet, her pleas fell to deaf ears; no one was willing to help. The NCR were all too caught up with dealing with the Legion than dealing with their own citizens.
One night though, this mysterious man came up to her and told her of a group that takes care of business no one wants to do. He gave the contact info and told her that they would definitely help. He was dressed as an NCR officer, but he had the black ranger armor on. She nearly scoffed when he gave her the information. He reassured her that this group could help her. He bought her another shot before leaving. This was just a few nights ago.
After that, she felt that this group was her last chance to figure out what was going on with all the caravans so she sent a note to them. She has sat in the bar ever since.
Couple more shots, Cass was about to give up hope for the night when she heard the door open. There was hardly anyone in the bar, all the soldiers left to the barracks to sleep. It was one in the morning.
The person came in, fully dressed in the NCR black ranger armor. Strolling in, they took a spot in the bar and nodded at the bartender.
"A beer please. Cold, don't give me a warm one this time." So this person was a female, a female ranger. Not too many of those around. The bartender saluted and walked over to the back, grabbing a couple for her.
Cass nodded at her and the ranger nodded back. Once the bartender came back with the beers, the ranger held up her hand and the bartender nodded and left the bar. Cass looked at the ranger and saw that she came up and sat next to her.
"What is the color of the rose?" Cass asked. The ranger took off her helmet and smiled, "It is the color of the desert. It never dies." Cass grabbed a shot glass and poured some of the whiskey.
"So, what's your name?" She asked. The ranger took Cass's shot of whiskey from her outstretched hand. "Penny. Yours?" Cass poured into her glass and raised it. Penny raised hers and they toasted before downing the shot.
"Rose of Sharon Cassidy. Just call me Cass for short." Penny nodded and took a drink from her beer.
"So," Penny started, "tell me about yourself and why did you contact us?"
Cass poured more whiskey as she began, "Well, I need to find out who took out my caravan and why. Not just mine but all the other caravans." She took her shot before continuing, "I have only one wagon left. That is all I have left of my caravan. I truly believe someone is taking out these caravans purely on competition. And I think I know who."
"Who then?" Penny asked. Cass smiled and took her shot. "Alice McLafferty and the Crimson Caravan."
Seeing Penny's incredulous look, Cass shook her head. "I know that that seems crazy, but who else would do it? I don't have any sort of evidence, but I know in my gut it's her. Just a few months ago, Alice sent a letter seeing if I wanted to sell her my father's caravan. I refused. I also heard from many of the other caravans that they received similar offers. And these are the same ones that got hit in the last few weeks."
Penny silently drank her beer, processing all the information. Cass stared at her, her eyes a tad bit bloodshot. She was a girl who can drink, that's for sure.
Penny took out her papers and laid them out. Cass leaned over and looked at all of them, reading them, her eyes getting bigger. She looked at Penny, who nodded and smiled.
"I do believe in your accusation Cass, but I need to find hard evidence. Even though Crimson Caravan seems the most logical choice, I think they aren't the only ones behind this. There is someone else in play here." Cass nodded as she looked through all of Penny's documents.
"Right. Ok. So where should we start?" She asked. Penny took one of the documents and handed it to her. "We will check your caravan. It was the first to get hit. We might still be able to find something here." Cass nodded, "Good. Alright. Let's go." Penny stared at her and shook her head. "Whoa there Cass, I think we need to give you time to cool off." Cass smirked, "You obviously have never dealt with me. Let's go. I am itching to leave this place."
Penny left some caps on the bar, gathered her things and put on her helmet. The bartender came back saluting Penny as she walked out.
Cass went to her wagon, where Penny saw two bull Brahmins. She watched as Cass stroked their heads, trying to wake them up. After making all the preparations, the two ladies with the wagon walked out of the Mojave outpost and into the desert.
Penny could remember the first time she walked out of the outpost and seeing New Vegas in the distance. The lights were always gleaming and it looked so amazing. She knew all of New Vegas was an illusion, but she loved it nevertheless. It was perfect contrast with the Mojave night sky. She looked up and could see almost all the stars, with the moon making its course across the sky. She loved it here. It was just perfect.
Cass lit up one of her cigarettes and handed one over to Penny. She took her helmet off and left the nice desert breeze hitting her face. She took a long drag and breathed it out, watching the wind take the smoke away.
Cass stared at her, watching the ranger with fascination. Taking a drag of her cigarette, she began the conversation. "So, what organization do you belong with? Some secret op team of the NCR?"
Penny stared ahead before answering. "No nothing like that. We are not affiliated with any major groups in the Mojave. We are our own splitter group. We take care of things that no one else will do. If there are groups in need, we help them out, no questions asked. We mostly deal with slavers and raiders. We do independent contracts with a lot of groups. We are not influenced by politics, but we want to help make Mojave a better place to live."
"Ok, but how you guys different from other groups, like the Followers or the NCR? Wait, how do you have that armor? Isn't that worn by the elite group from the NCR?"
Penny smiled, "I'm actually ex-NCR. There are quite a few of us who were part of the big dogs. We have a little bit of NCR, Followers, and even Legion. Yeah, we are a bunch of misfits who happen to realize we all want the same thing and although our methods are different, we get the job done. "
"Wait, you were NCR? Why did you leave?" Cass asked.
"So many questions, heh. I actually left after my tour of duty. They wanted to extend it, but I was tired of all the NCR bullshit. I was part of several units, making my way to the Rangers. After that, I left, working as a mercenary until one of my old friends contacted me and I joined his organization. And that's the story."
Absentmindedly petting her Brahmin, Cass looked out towards the landscape, seeing New Vegas from a distance. They moved silently along, Penny listening to the sounds of coyote off in the distance.
They made to the one of the old gas stations not too far from the outpost when Cass yawned. Penny looked over at her, "Tired? We can stop here for the night." Cass shook her head, stifling another yawn. "No, I can keep going. At least we can make it to Primm. I know some folks down there who have a place to stay."
Penny nodded and they continued to walk, exchanged stories about their past. Cass told her of her family, her dad leaving when she was young and growing up with her mother. After she was 18, Cass decided to take up her father's business, making routes as far west in California, to some in Utah. She talked about all the people she met and some of the crazy adventures.
Penny kept mostly silent, just listening to her talk until something spooked her in the distance. She pulled out her .45 and looked down at the sights.
The Brahmin grunted as they too noticed something near them. Cass tried to calmed them down, unaware of what they were getting restless about.
Without warning, several shots rang out, causing Penny to whip around and hide behind the wagon. She heard a grunt and soon Cass squatted beside her, shotgun in hand.
Yells pierced the night as a small group of Vipers tried to flank the caravan. The Brahmin howled and started to run away. Penny knew she didn't have a lot of time and would lose the caravan if she didn't try and stop them.
Exchanging her gun for something more sutiable, Penny looked at Cass. "I want you to try and calm the Brahmin and get to a safe distance. Run to the gas station and I'll see if I can take them apart."
Cass shook her head, "I can try and help. The Brahmin can go to the gas station as we try and hold them off."
Nodding, Penny replaced her helmet and turned on her night vision. She quickly darted away and out of sight. Cass, left behind, rushed over to the Brahmin, smack one on the hind leg and quickly hopped onto the wagon, popping her head up to take some shots.
Cass hated night fights. She couldn't see anything, but she took her shots trying to get the gang dispersed. Once the gang followed the wagon, Cass could see Penny silently making her way to several members. She saw her going up to one, grabbing the Viper by the head and quickly snapped it to one side. Unaware there was a sneak, the Vipers kept shooting at the wagon while Penny prepared her attack.
She took her knife and stabbed one of the women in the back, flinging her body away before jumping on her partner. Penny slashed his throat and tossed him aside. Taking his gun, she took two shots at a nearby Viper and disappeared before he hit the ground.
The Vipers soon realized that their numbers were declining and only four of them remained. Shouting commands, they started to shoot when Penny hid, giving Cass a chance to take down two.
The Viper captain yelled at her last member, telling them to retreat. Cass took out that Viper and saw Penny rushed the captain, tackling her to the ground. Several shots rang out and Cass stilled, watching to see if Penny was hurt.
Seconds later, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw Penny rise up, brushing off the dust and started to make over towards the wagon.
"Whoa, I said WHOA there boys. Come on, stop. WHOA!" Cass leaped out of the wagon and tried to slow down the Brahmin. They stopped right in front of an abandoned shack, their heads held high as they mooed. Sighing, Cass didn't notice Penny until she moved behind her and towards the Brahmin.
"Are you hurt?" Cass asked. Penny shook her head, "Barely. Maybe a bruise on my knee, but nothing major. You?" Cass walked over to see Penny checking the Brahmin for injuries.
"No, nothing at all." She took out her flask and drank some of her homemade whiskey. Handing it over to Penny, who graciously took it, Cass sat down.
"My god, I have never seen anyone move like that ever. The way you just snapped that guys neck. Wow. Impressive." Cass flashed Penny a smile. Penny sat down, chuckling.
"All part of the job. There's someone else who can do it better than me."
"What, really? How?"
"You can see me. Either you are quite perceptive or I am getting sloppy."
Cass laughed and drank some more of her flask. Penny stretched and looked at the sky. Only a few more hours till sunrise, she thought. Standing up, Penny looked down at Cass.
"We should continue. Make it to Primm, rest there, and make it to your caravan tomorrow afternoon."
Cass nodded, "Tired already, Penny? Alright, to Primm. Let's go boys."