Sunny, Ringo and Alessa quickly made their way down the hill from the Goodsprings Gas Station towards the General Store and Saloon. There was already a decent gathering of folk there. Counting Sunny, Alessa, and Ringo, there were seven people altogether. Trudy and another man hid behind some tall boxes in front of the Store, Easy Pete was positioned behind an old wooden cart, and the last man, who Alessa recognized as a usual bar patron, was crouched in the alley between the stores. She took a position beside Trudy, and peered around the boxes, looking down the main road leading out of the town. She could see Cobb easily, and the other five men that accompanied him. They were approaching fast. Alessa looked to Trudy.
"Have Cindy and the others who don't want to take part in the fighting holed up in the General Store?" She asked. Trudy nodded.
"Chet's got his shotgun ready," she replied. "In case anything goes wrong. Mitchell's in there, too, so he can be close when the fighting's over."
"Seems like everyone's here." Alessa looked around, just to make sure, but realized one fighter was missing. "Wait, where's Victor?"
"The robot?" Trudy asked. "I ain't seen him." Alessa frowned.
"He said he'd be here..." She was worried. Where had Victor gone?
"Look out!" Ringo cried from his position in the alley as a stick of dynamite sailed towards the boxes Trudy, Alessa and the other citizen were hiding behind. The three quickly scrambled out of the way before the dynamite exploded. Alessa growled.
"We'll have to make do without him! Everyone, open fire!" She cried, and gunshots soon rang out. The normally quiet town was alive with gunfire and explosions. Easy Pete and the Powder Gangers were the source of most of the explosions. It didn't take long for two of the Powder Gangers to fall, thanks to Easy Pete's throwing arm. Alessa looked around, not seeing Cobb. That worried her.
"Shit. Where is he?" She asked to herself, looking around. She saw a shadow moving behind the Saloon and Store. Was he trying to get into the store? She quickly burst from her hiding spot, narrowly dodging bullets. When she got around the back of the store, she heard a grunt of pain, and looked to see Cobb, with his back facing Alessa, standing over Ringo, who was on the ground. Cobb smirked, one of his feet pressing on the downed man's chest, leaning down to glare at him, a .357 magnum pressed to Ringo's temple.
"Thought you could get away, huh?" Cobb hissed. "Think you clever for gettin' these country bumpkins to rally against me, huh?" Ringo coughed, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth, spitting at Cobb.
"You ain't gonna win. You're outnumbered." He grunted, breathing a bit heavily. Cobb merely smirked.
"Bullshit. We got the firepower. Once I kill you, all your little friends are next. That one chick, the hottie in leather, with the red hair...I wonder if she's a virgin?" Cobb laughed at Ringo's shocked expression when he mentioned Sunny. Alessa had heard enough.
"Over my dead body!" She shouted from behind him, aiming her 10mm at Cobb's head. One shot was all she needed. He turned, not expecting to see her behind him, and was met with a bullet between the eyes. He stumbled back a step or two, before crumpling to the dirt beside Ringo. Ringo looked from Cobb, to Alessa, then back to Cobb again before Alessa moved forward, helping him off the ground.
"I owe you for this." Ringo said, looking into Alessa's eyes. She merely smiled.
"Don't worry about it. Last I checked, there's still three guys we need to worry about. Let's get back to the fighting." Ringo nodded, and followed the girl. By the time they'd gotten back, the last Powder Ganger had been shot by Sunny Smiles, crumpling to the ground with a groan of pain. Alessa looked around, assessing the damage. The cart in front of the Saloon and the boxes in front of the General Store were nothing but splinters, and Alessa saw that Trudy had been shot in the leg, Sunny had a bullet wound in her left shoulder, and at least one man was laying on the ground, presumably dead. Alessa cursed, rushing to the man on the ground to be sure. She checked his pulse, met with nothing. She bowed her head.
"Damn it," She cursed. "Should've gotten back here faster." She murmered, noticing the man's eyes were still open, and closed them with the palm of her hand. Pete came out of the General Store with the rest of the townspeople, Chet included, and Doc Mitchell moved over to the Saloon with Trudy, Sunny, and another remaining Goodsprings settler to assess their wounds. Alessa turned to Ringo, who had a smile on his face, and a small satchel in his hand.
"I really do owe you one for this." He said gratefully. "These are technically Crimson Caravan funds. Didn't know if it was right for me to give 'em away, but after what you done for me...You deserve a hell of a lot more than this." Alessa took the satchel, and looked inside, her eyes widening at the sight. There was a grand total of 100 caps inside the satchel.
"Ringo...I...You don't have to pay me, really." She said hurriedly. "I can't accept this." Ringo shook his head.
"Please. I insist. The Caravan'll understand once I explain things."
"If you're certain..." Alessa poured the caps into the satchel she already had attached to her belt. It was much heavier now than it had been, and it felt good to know she had some money. "What will you do now?" Alessa asked. Ringo shrugged.
"I'll stay in town for a few more days, but after that, I'm headed back to New Vegas. If you're ever in the area, look me up at the Crimson Caravan's headquarters there."
"Will do." Alessa smiled. "Good luck to you, Ringo." She held out a hand, which he accepted, shaking it.
"I won't forget this." He replied. "Thank you."
* . * . * . * . * . *
"Well, howdy, Pardner!" Victor's cheery, robotic voice rang out as Alessa approached the worn-down shack he guarded. "So, when do the rustlers show up?" He asked. Alessa looked at him in disbelief.
"Didn't you hear all the gunfire?" She asked. "They were already here." Victor's cowboy-face flickered into a frowning one.
"Really? I didn't hear a thing. Guess I musta dozed off for a minute." Alessa frowned. That didn't sound right to her, considering robots didn't "sleep" unless someone ordered them to.
"Perhaps there's data corruption in your memory chips." She said, moving behind him to open the panel where his chips should have been. "Let me have a look."
"Well, alright." Victor said nervously. "Just put everthin' back the way you found it!" Alessa studied the chips and memory banks, finding a code.
"Hmm...It seems someone sent you a remote signal. Does the code "Override Command 16-Delta" mean anything to you?" She asked. Victor looked puzzled.
"Never heard of it."
"Figures." Alessa muttered. "It seems someone shut you down deliberately, but there's no record of who."
"I truly am sorry I couldn't be of help to ya, Pardner." Victor did sound genuinely sorry. "Anythin' else I can do ya for?" Alessa shook her head.
"No, I think that'll do." She replaced his casing, and entered the cabin. "I need to rest. Keep watch, okay?"
"Will do, Pardner."
* . * . * . * . * . *
After about five hours of sleep and dropping whatever she didn't need, Alessa exited the shack, greeted by bright sunlight. The town was quiet again, and as she walked up the main street and headed towards the Saloon, she noted that the bodies and debris had been quickly cleaned up. She smiled at Easy Pete, who sat in front of the Saloon, and thanked him for his help before entering the building.
"There's the hero of the hour." Sunny Smiles announced as Alessa approached the bar, the girl smiling at her, Trudy, and Ringo.
"Please. If the town hadn't banded together, there was no way I or Ringo could've taken on the Powder Gangers." She sat down at the bar, and Trudy set a bottle of Sarsaparilla in front of her.
"Here, it's on the house. Least we can do, after what you done for us." Alessa opened the bottle, taking a sip.
"Mm...Thank you." She set the bottle down. "Now, I need some answers. Do any of you know anything about the men who attacked me?" Sunny thought for a moment, before looking to Trudy.
"They were in here that night, weren't they?" Trudy scoffed.
"Yeah, they were. I don't know too much about 'em, except that they were a buncha freeloaders who expected a round of drinks on the house. I managed to get 'em to pay up, but not before one of the thugs that guy in the suit was with "accidentally" knocked my radio to the floor. Damn thing hasn't been workin' since."
"I see...I could take a look at it, if you want." Alessa offered.
"That'd be nice. Be worth a few caps to me." Alessa moved behind the bar, examining the radio.
"Hmm...Here's the problem. Looks like something got knocked loose." She fixed it in about five minutes. Trudy was impressed as the radio turned right back on.
"Well, now. Looks like you had some tech experience before you got your eggs scrambled." She handed a sum of seventy-five caps to Alessa.
"This seems like a bit much for that little bit of work, Trudy." She said, surprised at the hefty number of caps. Trudy shrugged.
"I never know what to pay for stuff like that. Didn't want you to think I was cheap, or anything." She chuckled, and Alessa smiled.
"Well, thanks. Now, did my attackers say where they were going?"
"Well, they were havin' some kinda argument about it, but that guy in the checkered suit kept shushin' 'em. Sounded like they came through Quarry Junction, up north, to get here. If that's the case, I don't blame 'em for not wantin' to go back."
"Me either," Sunny piped up. "Up there, you got the kindsa critters that just get mad if you shoot 'em up too much."
"Anyway," Trudy continued. "Merchants avoid that whole stretch of I-15 like it's radioactive." She shrugged. "Which it could be, for all I know. I never been up there, m'self."
"Um...You still haven't mentioned where they were headed." Alessa reminded Trudy politely, and the woman smacked her own forehead.
"There I go, ramblin' on again. I must be gettin' old." She shook her head. "Anyway, I think they headed south through Primm. They were headed to the Strip, from what the guy in the suit said. Have to head east to take 93 up. Easiest way to get there is to go through Primm."
"Thanks, Trudy." Alessa looked to Sunny. "How do I get to Primm?"
"Just take the main road south out of Goodsprings, and go East. You can't miss it. Got this ancient, old wooden roller coaster through the town." Sunny explained. Alessa's eyes widened.
"That sounds amazing."
"It's quite a sight." Sunny said, smiling. "Be careful, though. Powder Gangers might've headed there, too. I heard somethin' about NCR being there to try and clean out the town."
"NCR?" Alessa asked, confused.
"New California Republic." Trudy answered. "Buncha soldiers from California who are trying to clean up the Mojave. Not a lot of people care for them much, but they keep us safe, so I've got no problem with them."
"There's another group, too, that you gotta watch for." Sunny piped up. "Got themselves a funny name. Caesar's Legion, I think they're called." Trudy made a face.
"I heard of them. Run around dressed as Roman soldiers, but really, they're no better than Raiders. I hear they got real nasty ways of killin' folk." Sunny shrugged.
"Could be stories the NCR cooked up to make people welcome their presence a little more." Alessa listened to the stories intently.
"Are they enemies?" She asked. Sunny nodded.
"Oh, yeah. They get along about as well as a Deathclaw and a Bighorner would." Sunny replied. Seeing Alessa's confused look, she elaborated.
"See, they both wanna take over the Mojave. To do that, they gotta have control of Hoover Dam, which supplies water to the whole Mojave area. There was a big battle a few years ago. NCR pushed the Legion away from the Dam, but the Legion hasn't backed down yet. They're east of the river, bidin' their time."
"So, whoever gets control of the Dam will pretty much rule the Mojave?" Alessa asked. Sunny nodded gravely.
"I don't like the NCR much, but after hearin' stories about the Legion, I think I'd rather have them control the land."
"Me, too." Trudy agreed.
"Me three!" Ringo piped up from his seat at a booth, having been keeping quiet the whole time. "Although, I hear Caravaneers marked by the Legion are the safest around. Nobody messes with a Legion caravan. But, they're real tyrants, from what I hear. It's like walkin' on eggshells around them. Can't do anything they don't like, or they string you to a cross." He paused, taking a sip from an open bottle of Whiskey. "Besides, the Crimson Caravan is based in California. If Caesar took over, we'd probably just get pushed out of here."
"They sound like bad news." Alessa deducted from the stories. "I'll have to keep my eyes open." She slowly rose, stretching her limbs.
"Well...I suppose I'd best get going."
"If you ever feel like heading back this way, you're always welcome." Trudy held out a hand, and Alessa shook it. "Good luck to you."
"Thanks, everyone." Alessa smiled, and turned to exit the bar. After briefly stopping at Chet's store to pick up some more ammo, she was ready to begin her journey. She began to walk down the main road, wondering where her travels would take her, a little excited and a little scared at the same time.