Chapter Five After The Smoke Fades
Penny entered the saloon and looked around to find Sunny Smilies. When she spotted her, Penny walked over, thinking about how to ask Sunny to help Ringo.
"Um, hi there again. Listen, so you know about Ringo and the Powder Gangers? I am offering support against them. He told me to come to you to see what can be done."
Sunny thought for a minute before answering, "Sure. I am in. I would like to get rid of them as much as anyone in this town. They have been very disruptive to our trade caravans and our hunting, blowing up breeding grounds for geckos and coyotes. But, I don't think just the four of us can take them on."
Cass smirked, "All I need is my shotgun to take those motherfuckers out. But I couldn't help but notice you mentioned that they disrupted caravans. Which ones?"
"Some from Utah and New Reno. Even those from California. We can take all we can get, but since they broke from the prison, our supplies have been dwindling. Chet has been trying to keep us afloat from trading with the NCR, which is great but we prefer to keep our independence from them."
Penny glanced at Cass, watching her take in the news. However, she thought that the Gangers were not the reason for the takeout of caravans around the Mojave. Cass nodded and was deep in thought when Penny began to talk, "Of course. Would the town like to enlist their help?" she asked.
"I would speak to Chet and see what kind of supplies he can offer. Also Doc Mitchell is resource as far as medical supplies and treatments go. I would also speak up to Trudy and see if she can help round up the town to help. She is the sound of reason around here and I bet she can help rally the troops. And I would talk to Easy Pete. The Powder Gangers aren't the only explosive experts around here."
Penny nodded in thanks, "Great, that gives me some ideas on how to go about this. Thanks again Sunny."
Sunny smiled and Penny turned to go into the bar. She saw Trudy there and explained to her the plan. Trudy had to be convinced but Penny managed to talk her into helping in the fight. Afterwards, Penny spent most of the day talking with townsfolk and convincing them to fight. Chet proved to be apprehensive, but understood that his store needed stocked shelves. Doc Mitchell was happy to supply with Stimpaks and treatment when needed, and Easy Pete was excited to use his dynamite in defense of the town. Penny also invited them to come to the saloon later to talk about the plan. As she gathered help, she grew more and more confident that the town will defend itself against the growing threat.
Craig Boone knocked on the door and made his way inside. He walked towards the chairs and sat in one, patiently waiting for him. The door behind opened again and he saw the Boss enter and took a seat in the chair across from Boone. Handing him a folder, he lit up a cigarette and watched as Boone went through the file.
After he finished, Boone held up the folder, "What does this mean? Are we positive that he is making his move now?"
The Boss nodded, "Yes, it seems that House is making his move. I believe that he is seeing the growing threat of the Legion and what that can do to his territory. As you can see, he is trying to keep whatever he's doing in secret. Fortunately, we were tipped off from Smith that what he is looking for may secure himself as the sole ruler of New Vegas and the Mojave Wasteland. And you know that we cannot let that happen."
Boone stared at the file, "So, do you want me to recover whatever it is that House is looking for?"
"I would like for you and Penny to. However she is still on assignment," he responded. "But there is something else: we don't know exactly what House wants. In essence, what I really want you to do is gather a group. Each of you will track the couriers carrying an item. Make sure they are safe until they reach New Vegas. Is that understood?"
Boone gave a short nod and stood up. Before he turned to leave, Boone regarded the Boss before he spoke, "Do you also know if the Legion or the NCR know about this? Will they interfere?"
The Boss tapped out his cigarette and sat back on his chair, "I do not believe that NCR has any idea. They are not aware of the technology of this region. However, I assure you that Legion has some knowledge of the item, but what purpose it may serve to them, I am not sure. I would exercise caution, in case you or anyone else runs into NCR or Legion."
With a sharp nod, Boone turned and walked out of the office. Closing the door behind him, Boone opened the file again. He knew that this was huge: An item that may have the power to rule New Vegas? He wondered what kind of power it would be if it was something House wanted. As he made his way to his room, he bumped into someone. Mumbled, "Sorry," to the person and as he tried to move away from them, he felt they punch him on the side. Wheeling around, he was about to retaliate when he realized who it was.
"Oh. Veronica. It's you."
Veronica Santangelo placed her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at Boone. "Gone for several months and that's how you greet me? Actually, I am not surprised. You are Boone after all."
Boone scowled at her, "Is that how you greet someone? Bump into them and then punch them?"
Veronica giggled, "Boone, you bumped into me, barely saw me and apologized. So that warranted a punch." Boone glowered at her while Veronica sweetly smiled at him. After a few moments, Boone relaxed and smiled at her, "Glad to hear you're back Ron."
"Now that's the greeting I was looking for!" She goes on to giving Boone a strong hug. Boone chuckled as she released him and they both proceeded to walk to their rooms.
"So, how was California? Find anything interesting?" Boone asked.
Veronica grew excited, "Actually, while I was wandering around, I found a group of tribals that loved to dance! Isn't that interesting? I also found a bunch of files that talked about the FEV experiments. It's going us some good insight about the Super Mutants. I don't how much, but great history I think. I managed to get some trading done, but I think it'll fall through. Like always. No one wants to with the Legion looming closer every day."
Boone nodded and handed her the file. Curiously, she took it and looked in it for a few moments. Stopping in front of Boone's room, she handed it back with an excited look on her face.
"Woah. What? And he wants us to look for this? How? They can be everywhere and do we even have enough people for it? Pen is out and so is Arcade. And Patches, Tommy, and Ferus. But this… hmmm."
Boones smiled, "I know right? But maybe we'll divide it up. Teams of two. Watch for their movements. There's only six of them. How hard can that be?"
Veronica laughed, "Well, if they are wearing a dress, it shouldn't be that hard. Well Boone, I am going to crash. I'll see you in the morning. Or afternoon. Need that beauty sleep you know."
Boone smiled as he opened his door and made his way inside. Placing the folder on his table, he proceeded to the cabinet that held all his liquor. Grabbing a bottle, he went over to his sofa and sat down. He turned on the radio and opened his bottle of whiskey. He took a swig of it and stared in front of him.
After a few drinks from his bottle, he looked at a notebook sitting on the table next to him. Reaching over, he grabbed it and started to turn pages. The book he held was Carla's and every page noted her experiences, hopes, and dreams. It gave him relief sometimes but tonight, he found no solace in them.
Reading several pages of her journal didn't give Boone the resolve he was looking for. All he could recall was his wife's face as he made the shot that would have saved her life. But in the end, it only tormented him. And it happened today. He saw the look of the woman's face as she stood in line about to be sold as a slave. She was too pregnant, as his wife was. He was suppose to rescue her but ended up failing. She was sent from the camp he went to find her, and found our after she, along with other slaves, to a small camp that would send them to other camps the Legion occupied. She was young and in her third trimester. He didn't feel up to writing to the husband looking for her.
Placing the book on the table, Boone took his bottle and took a big swig from it. Boone found it hard when he could not save those who sought it, even when all he wanted was to storm into a Legion camp and take down every single Legionnare he saw. But for those he did save, it gave him hope. To see the little girl run up to her parents after being away for months gave him strength. Tonight, however, Boone had to relive what he did few years ago.
He continued to stare at the wall for hours until he fell into a drunken sleep, mind clear from the day's events. All he thought now was how to get whatever House was looking for.
As the sun began to set, the folks of Goodsprings slowly made their way into the Prospector's Saloon. Sunny Smilies sat in one of the booths, along with Cheyenne and Doc Mitchell. Easy Pete greeted everyone who came through the door, handing them a bottle of beer. Trudy made drinks and food and placed them along the counter. Cass next to Chet, discussing business while betting on who can out-drink the other person. Music from Dean Domino came from the radio (which was fixed by Penny earlier) and provided them a quaint atmosphere. They all were waiting for Penny and Ringo.
The doors of the saloon opened and everyone turned to see who had walked through the door, even though the answer was obvious. Penny, who still wore her armor, walked in first, happily accepting a beer from Pete. Ringo came in after her, looking around, nervously smiling at them. Once he sat down next to Cass, Penny nodded at Trudy, who turned off the radio, and beamed.
"Thank you all for attending this meeting and putting some time in from your lives. For those who I haven't gotten a chance to meet, my name is Penny. Now before you pull out the pitchforks and start attacking me, I am not NCR. I used to be but that was a long time ago. I am just your typical merc for hire who happens to be around when things happen. In this case, you have the Powder Gangers messing around in town and I propose a plan of action to defend your town and make those guys think twice about Goodsprings.
"However, before I can discuss the plan, I need to know who has totally and complete support for fighting back? I will not waste your time, but I will tell you here and now that this cannot happen without the support from the town. Anyone?"
Penny looked around and someone stood up, "Yeah, I have a better idea. How about we just give the gangers what they want? Obviously this guy is bringing the trouble into our town. They never messed with us until he rolled in. I say we just hand him over."
Some folks nodded and held up their glasses to him. Others, like Trudy, Doc Mitchell, and Sunny frowned and looked at Ringo, who was not looking at anyone, staring at his beer in front of him.
Before Penny got a chance to respond, Cass jumped in, "Alright, if that's how it's going to be, let's see how long after you give them Ringo that they'll come back to the town. Maybe they'll fancy a bite to eat so they'll raid Trudy's place. Or maybe they need some more dynamite? Do you think Easy Pete can stand up to them? Or Chet when they come over to the store and take all this wares? You think that's the way to survive out here? No, you take a chance. You fight back. Don't be like the NCR. You have to stand up for this town."
Cass looked around and turned to Penny, "Right?" Penny couldn't contain her smile anymore. "This gal is right. You have hold the line; show those Powder Gangers they won't take over Goodsprings, just like they did to Primm. All that needs to happen it to take those punks down!"
Everyone cheered and the women looked relived. The guy has long since sat down and clapped along with everyone else in the bar. Cass grabbed her shot glass and held it up in the air. Everyone followed suit and she yelled, "Alright! LET'S GET THEM!"
Penny and all the townsfolk cheered as they took a sip from their drinks. She winked at Ringo, who looked around and received pats on the back and handshakes from people.
Trudy went around refilling drinks while Penny discussed her plan. For the most part, people were asking questions, clearly lacking the amount of experience Penny has. After making sure they understood, Penny told them that she would teach them how to shoot early the next morning. Some expressed they had never held a gun in their life. She reassured them that she would make sure that they will learn to shoot before they shoot at the Gangers.
Two hours had passed and Penny felt very confident about the entire thing. Once jobs were assigned and people had to leave, there were some folks who remained in the bar. Ringo, Cass, Trudy, Pete, and Sunny sat around the bar, drinking and talking amongst each other. Penny took her beer and went through the back door, sat down near the campfire and took out a cigarette.
After a few moments for relaxing, Penny turned on her Pipboy and saw she had some messages. The first came from Veronica, which Penny knew she was back from her trip that discussed information she had found. The second came Boone, who told her that she was needed and to meet up at the I88 trading post. She knew that it would take her some time to complete the assignment so she sent a reply and told him to keep her posted about anything.
She then looked through her notes. Some of the information she kept in the Pipboy was about all the things she encountered in her travels. The other notes stored in here… all the information she had on m former master. All his movements, his conquests, and the news of everything he has ever done. It helped her figure out what he was trying to do to the Mojave for her job. On the other hand, she feared that he would be coming after her. It has been years, but she knew he would never stop tracking her down. She kept to herself and being trained as a Ranger her skills of stealth came in handy. Penny was paranoid; despite being dressed as an NCR soldier, she felt that her attackers would not know she was the former slave to their master, which gave her relief.
Turning off her pipboy, she took out another cigarette and stared into the night sky. She tried to run her thoughts away from him, keeping her focus on the upcoming threat of the Powder Gangers.
Awaking the next morning Penny had her rounds, making her stops to all the townsfolk and making sure they were being prepared. For the most part, they seemed hesitant but excited. She held shooting practice behind the saloon and after a few hours, she felt confident.
In the afternoon, she and Cass helped out Sunny with a couple of errands, picking herbs and taking out some gecko by the water well. When they returned, Trudy had no new information for them. Penny thought that the Powder Gangers would strike soon. Just when was the question.
They spent a few days in Goodsprings. Penny and Cass were helping with tending the Brahmin and the crops. On the third day, Cass grew restless that they weren't making progress with her issue, but Penny reassured her that her mission with her caravan was priority. She joked with her, saying, "So do you just want to take care of the deathclaws while I sit and watch?" Cass scowled and mumbled, "If I had unlimited ammo and whiskey, yeah."
It wasn't until the fifth day that there was some news. When Sunny came back from the well that morning, she saw that there was a small band of prisoners heading into the town. Penny alerted Trudy and started to put her plan into motion.
After getting everyone together, they knew it was time for their stand.
Joe Cobb and several of his men was Goodsprings from the distance. He clutched his gun and held it up in the air.
"To arms my brothers. We will make sure that we make that Ringo pay for what he has done to us. Come on! Goodsprings isn't very far!"
All of them hollered and they all marched on, armed to the teeth with dynamite.
Penny saw them approach from the cemetery. The water tower gave her a good look at the approaching band of criminals. She took note that there were 15 in total and fully armed. She hopped off the tower and quickly made her way into town. She smiled and thought, "They have no idea who they are messing with."
Joe Cobb stood in front of the saloon and pointed his gun in the air. Firing a single shot, he hollered at the bar.
"Trudy! I know you are in there! Give us what we want. No harm will come to this town if you ust gave us Ringo! This is your only warning!"
Waiting, Joe saw the door open and Trudy stepping out, along with Cass, Sunny, and Cheyenne.
"Joe Cobb, how dare you disturb this peaceful town with your outrageous demands? If you wanted peace, why are you prepared for war with us? I will not stand for violence to get your way. Leave. That is my final warning."
Joe looked at his men and laughed, "If all we needed to do was ask, then why didn't we receive what we wanted. Just give him to us and we will turn around and walk away."
Trudy held up her gun and pointed at Joe, "You didn't say please."
Cass and Sunny followed suit and Joe's men all raised their guns and pointed at the women. Joe pointed his to Trudy, "Don't make me hurt you sweetie. I am no fiend but I ain't against hurting a woman."
Before he started to fire, a single shot was fired and took out of the men on Joe's right. Before he could react, the three women started to fire. Several of Cobb's men dodged the shots and ran for cover. Joe looked around to find the mystery shooter when another one passed him, one that would have taken his head off. Running to cover with most of his men, Cobb motioned to his men to light up the dynamite. They threw it over to the saloon and the explosion took out part of the porch, The women had rushed to cover, only feeling the heat from the explosion on their backs. Sunny and Cass managed to get up but Trudy was still down.
Enraged Sunny started to fire more shots. Realizing she was running out of ammo, she was about to storm them head on when she saw Ringo and the rest of the men fire their shots from the store. Guns blazing, they took down the guys who had the dynamite.
Cobb went over to one of his men and grabbed several sticks and as he started to light one, he saw something fly by him. Realizing what it was, he yelled a single word, "RUN!" and sprinted out just in time to see the explosion take out most of the house and several of his men. He looked around the saw that there weren't many of his men left. He looked and saw Ringo. He pushed himself off the ground, lit two of the dynamite sticks.
"FUCK YOU RINGO! YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" he yelled. But just as he was about to throw the dynamite, the last thing he was blood that covered his vision and then darkness. He was gone before the dynamite he ignited detonated and blew his body to bits.
When the smoked cleared, the townsfolk gathered the rest of the prisoners and took them to the front of the store. Tied up and stripped of their weapons, they pleaded that they wanted a peaceful surrender. As much as they wanted to shoot them at sight, Sunny, Chet, and Ringo were stopped by Penny.
She stepped in front of them and held her gun at the prisoners, "You were a choice to flee. You made the decision to not surrender. So I will you a choice: accept your choice or walk north of here. Do not return to your brothers, your comrades. Just leave and never return."
Protests started around her but Penny silence them with her hand, "No. You all have done enough. This cannot fall onto you."
Chet stepped forward with his gun pointed at her, "What do you mean, we let them live, after all this? No. I say we kill them. That is justice."
Penny shook her head, "No, that isn't justice. Do not stoop to their level."
"So what do you suggest? Letting them live free and cause more chaos for others? No, that is not acceptable,"
Penny looked at the prisoners, "What do you wish? Your life or freedom? My offer still stands."
Chet waved his gun at her, "Why do you get to decide their fates? You are not the law around here!"
The prisoners started to beg, "No, we will leave. We will travel away from here. We will not return! We promise. Please!"
"No, you deserve to die for your sins today. You deserve to pay." The people demanded.
A few tense moments passed. Then Penny lowered her gun and turned to walk away, "Fine, I will leave up to you. Do what you think is right."
As she walked away, she heard three gunshots and the bodies that took them fall onto the pavement. Letting out a long sigh, Penny walked to the saloon.
She saw a small gathering that included Doc Mitchell, Sunny, Ringo and Cass. As she approached them, she already saw several bodies lined up next to each other. Some of them had bullet holes and others scorned by the dynamite. She stopped when she saw that they were gathered around Trudy.
Doc Mitchell checked her eyes and her heartbeat. Sighing in relief, he looked up at the people around him. "Don't worry. She's alive. Probably knocked out by the blast, but alive. "
Everyone looked relieved and turned to see Penny walk up. Penny smiled and patted his back, "Good. That's good news."
Doc Mitchell smiled but looked to the left of him, "That's the only good news so far. The rest…"
Squeezing his shoulder, Penny consoled him, "You tried. Thank you."
Nodding, he took some supplies from his bag and started patching Trudy up. Sunny stood up and walked away, with Cheyenne trailing her. Ringo stood next to Penny and offered his hand.
"Thank you. I can't say how much this means to me. I can't speak for the town but, thank you."
Penny looked at his hand and eventually took it. Releasing it, she walked past him and started to help the townsfolk clean up what little was left of Goodsprings.
Placing her caps on the table and drinking the last of her beer, Penny smiled at Trudy. "How's that arm feeling?" Trudy tentative touched it and looked at Penny, "Still sore. My head still aches but overall I feel fine. But don't worry so much about me. I am good hands with Doc Mitchell."
Penny smiled and got up from the bar. Cass came from the back, stopping behind her.
"You ready?" Cass asked. Penny nodded and looked at Trudy, "Thank you for all the hospitality, but duty calls,"
Trudy beamed at the woman, "Dear, I should be thanking you! Without you, I probably wouldn't be here talking to you. And you did something wonderful for our town. Thank you."
Penny smiled and held out her hand, "Until next time Trudy. Get better!" Trudy took her hand and shook it, "Thank you again. Keep fighting the good fight for us!"
Cass waved at her, "Thanks for the drinks! Best so far!" Trudy laughed, "Any time girl! We should see who can drink the most time around." Cass winked, "You got it. You're buying."
As the two women made their way to the door, they stopped to say goodbye to Sunny. She hugged them and wished them a safe journey. Placing her helmet on, Penny and Cass stepped outside and once they gathered their caravan, they started to make their way out of Goodsprings.
A/N: More to come! Sorry if this felt rushed... I was writing it for a day... and then I just finished it 12 days later. So if it seemed spacey... my bad. I will probably go back and edit it! I promise to make it better.
Next chapter: Fights with giants! Ooooo. And maybe find out who is behind the sabotage of the Caravans! Stick around!
-C