A/N: I've noticed there was a few heated reviews about Butch. All I have to say is this: for those of you who have played FO3, does Butch have blonde hair and grey eyes? Butch will be in some flashbacks (yes, there will be flashbacks), but he's not a central character in Part I. Once again, please read and review.
Fallout: Crusaders of the Brotherhood
Part I: Chapter 5
The caravan had been traveling for no longer than thirty minutes. So far, they hadn't seen anything suspicious or out of the ordinary, yet, but they were still in Brotherhood territory. Though the Brotherhood's policy for patrolling the roads had little to do with actually protecting people in the Mojave, areas where hostile soldiers in full suits of power armor armed with advanced energy weapons wasn't exactly the best location to hang around if you were a raider.
The caravan had three brahmin full of medical supplies. One was filled with bandages and stinpaks. Another was filled with miscellaneous medical supplies, rad-x, rad-away, and few bottles of buffout. The last Brahmin was a gold mine for junkies. It was exclusively filled with med-x and psycho.
Ned, and the two full-time caravan guards headed the first brahmin, the two mercs stood at the flanks of the middle brahmin, and Veronica, Maria, and Butch brought up the rear. For a caravan of three brahmins, it would appear heavily guarded, but it was undermanned compared to the value of goods that they were carrying. A normal sized raiding party wouldn't pose too much of a problem, but if they came across a large group of raiders, they would be in trouble.
Veronica didn't really understand why they were shipping such a large amount of narcotics and stimulants. It didn't seem to make much sense on how an organization meant to bring about a better world would need so many stims and morphine needles. Then again, a lot of things didn't seem to make sense to her. She shrugged off the random curiosity and continued with the task at hand.
The caravan continued until Ned stopped, "Okay people, we're gonna rest here before we continue. Ya'll are gonna have to keep on your toes after we pass that rock," he was pointing to large rock jutting out of the sand, "that rock there marks the edge of Brotherhood territory. Even if you're dying and you're just beyond the marker, no Brotherhood soldier will set foot pass that rock; so rest up and recuperate, but stay with your brahmin; we're moving on in ten minutes."
Veronica found a large stone to sit on as she waited for the caravan to move on. Butch stepped off the road, eyeballing the two mercs standing by the brahmin in front if his. Maria approached Butch, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag from it.
"So, you're a ranger,"
Butch didn't even acknowledge her presence, let alone her attempt to make conversation.
"I guess you're one of those silent assholes, huh?" observed Maria after realizing she wasn't going to get a response, "I guess that's typical with all you desert rangers. So what brings you out so far south of Vegas? I thought House had you guys busy dealing with the Fiends."
Butch still said nothing. After another response of silence from Butch, Maria spoke up again.
"Well geese," said Maria, throwing up her hands, "don't get too comfortable around me, we barely know each other."
"I don't think he's that interested in talking," commented Veronica.
"I guess so," responded Maria as she took a seat next Veronica on the rock, taking another drag from her cigarette, "so what's your story?"
"My story?"
"Yeah, why are you out here? What made you take this job?"
"Well," said Veronica trying to piece together a reasonable explanation, "I'm mostly just a drifter. I took this job because I needed the caps and the excitement."
Maria exhaled another drag from her cigarette, "Yeah, I can relate to that story."
"So what made you decide to stay in the Mojave after the NCR lost the dam?" asked Veronica after a short silence.
"I've lived here my whole life," explained Maria, "I signed up for a tour with the NCR because I didn't want the Legion to take over the Mojave. Not that it did much good though; I got assigned to Camp McCarran and spent the whole tour fighting Fiends, but I guess every little bit helped. Had I known Mr. House had plans to drive out both armies, I probably would have signed on with him."
"Huh," that's all Veronica said after hearing Maria's story. She was watching Butch. He reminded her of someone she used to travel with before.
The two sat there on the rock in quiet for the duration of the break. Butch kept his eyes fixed on the two mercs in front of them. Veronica, Butch, and Maria got in their sentry positions as the caravan continued on through the Mojave.
"We're in general raider territory right now," said Ned, after they passed "that rock." He sounded as if he was some sort of safari guide, "Vipers, Jackals, Kahn remnants, you name it, they're probably nearby. Stay vigilant."
The caravan continued trekking along the road for a few miles. Nothing interesting had happened so far. Maria and Veronica both made a few attempts to get Butch to say something, but guy stayed silent. He kept studying the mercenaries in front of him. Every so often, when one of the mercs would look back, Butch would quickly snap his gaze to the side or somewhere else.
At first Veronica had no idea why Butch had been eyeing the mercenaries so closely, but as they continued on the trail, Veronica couldn't help but get this uneasy feeling around them. If they weren't looking around their shoulder every other five seconds, they were talking to each other in low enough voices that that their conversation was inaudible. The two mercs were far enough away that relative quite would be needed to hear them clearly, but not to the point where it would be impossible to understand their conversation.
A few minutes passed until Butch Finally spoke up, "Find some cover," commanded Butch as he aimed his pistol at the two mercenaries in front of them.
"Find what?" asked Veronica; those were the first words Butch had said since the caravan left the 188.
Before what Butch said could fully register in Veronica's mind, he fired a 9mm round into one of the merc's back, dropping him to the ground. His companion turned around and drew his repeater but took two bullets from Butch's pistol in the chest before he could fire a shot off.
Ned turned around while the two other guards pointed their weapons at Butch, "Now what in the hell wa–"
Ned was cut off short as he and the other two guards were gunned down by a hail of bullets coming from the side of the road.
Events seemed to happen too fast for Veronica to react quickly enough. First, she saw Maria aim her SMG and fire a few bursts off into the distance. Next thing she knew, Butch had tackled her to the ground just before a small barrage of bullets flew through the space where she had just been standing. While on top of her, Butch held up his pistol and fired two rounds into the raider who had almost killed Veronica.
"Get to the ledge, I'll cover you!" shouted Maria as she let out a long burst from her SMG.
Veronica had no idea what ledge she was talking about, but Butch seemed to know. As soon as he got Veronica on her feet, he pulled her up a mound of boulders until they reached the top of the tallest one. Rounds were landing left and right as they made their way up. The ledge provided relative safety from the gunfire for a moment, so long as they kept their heads down.
It had been a long time since Veronica had been in a firefight this heavy before. With the exception of a few angry protectrons or wild animals, she hadn't had done any real fighting since the last battle for Hoover Dam.
Butch peered over the ledge and unloaded the rest of his clip at the raiders, taking two more of them down. That caused all guns to focus fire on his position, kicking up dirt and chunks of rocks in the process, but it bought just enough time for Maria to scurry up towards his and Veronica's position.
"How many?" asked Butch as he loaded another clip into his pistol.
"I counted twelve," answered Maria, breathing heavily, "I don't think I've seen a raiding party…that big before."
"They were tipped off," responded Butch.
"Yeah," said Maria, still panting, "I guess those mercs you shot were the ones?"
Butch nodded. Veronica knew the mercenaries were acting suspicious, but she had wondered what made Butch know they tipped off the raiders. She quickly stashed that thought away for the time being; now wasn't the time. All fire was focused and suppressing the three's position. If one did so much as glance over the ledge, they would probably get killed.
Butch turned to Veronica who still had a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah" said Veronica, shaking her head as she tried to reorient her senses, "close quarters is more my thing,"
Before Butch could say anything else, an explosive round hit just below the ledge. It made Veronica's ears ring and caused the whole rock to shake. The three covered their heads as dirt and rock fragments rained down on them from the explosion.
"We're gonna die if we stay here!" yelled Maria as the incoming fire increased.
"We have to retreat! They want the supplies, not us!" said Butch, shouting back.
Maria nodded in agreement, "I doubt they'll follow us past the rock formations. If we leave n–"
Maria stopped as she heard the roaring sound of a mini-gun. At first, Veronica though it was one of the raiders, but as the mini-gun continued, she realized it wasn't directed at them. She peered over the ledge to see a large squad of power-armored soldiers coming up the road.
"Brotherhood," said Butch as he swore under his breath.
"What are they doing this far out here?" wondered Maria allowed.
"I don't know. They must be after something if they're this far out," responded Veronica, half lying,
"Well whatever it is," declared Maria, "I don't want to stay long enough to find out."
"Agreed," confirmed Butch, "Let's go."
All three jumped down off the ledge, and started making a break for it. As soon as the Brotherhood spotted them, they started shooting. Fortunately for the three, they were too far out of range for the Brotherhood's weaponry to get an accurate shot off.
Veronica considered going back and trying to explain the situation but decided that it would be better to avoid her old family if they were in a "shoot first, ask questions later," kind of a mood. All three continued running up the road until the unit of Brotherhood soldiers was out of sight. Maria was the first one to stop.
"Okay," said Maria, breathing between every couple of words, "the Aerotech Park should…just be a few miles…up the road...we should be safe there"
She rested both of her hands on the top of her head to help her catch her breath easier. Veronica did the same, but Butch, though still breathing rather heavy, didn't seem to be as tired. As soon as she caught her breath, Veronica spoke up.
"But the Followers supplies; they need that shipment."
"Don't be stupid," retorted Maria, "We don't have the numbers or the firepower to take on those raiders, let alone the Brotherhood."
Veronica looked at Butch to see if he would agree with her, but he merely nodded, agreeing with Maria, "She's right; we'd get cut to pieces if we go back."
Butch's opinion seemed to be all Maria needed to continue up the road. Butch followed suit along with a reluctant Veronica. She had been counting on this trip being her chance to work more closely with the Followers, but the more Veronica actually thought about it, the more she realized how dumb the idea was from the start. She knew she couldn't work with the Followers. The Brotherhood had made sure of that two years ago.
Veronica hated to admit it, but she was just another waster now. She was just another waster with some extra knowledge in pre-war tech. After everything she had and tried to accomplish, she just turned out be a homeless wasteland wanderer.
Hardin watched as the Knights and Paladins under his command picked through the carnage of what was supposed to be a caravan ambush. His men were examining the supplies carried by the Brahmin, and searching through the bodies of the dead, looking for any sign of the prisoner.
The side Hardin's face was puffed out how. His face had already started to bruise. He overheard one of his Paladins make a comment to another about how the prisoner had really "fucked him up." The only reason why the prisoner bested him was because he got the jump on Hardin before he could react. This guy didn't play fair when it came to combat.
One of the Paladins approached Hardin and saluted. "What do you have Paladin?" asked Hardin.
"Sir," responded the Paladin, "We've checked the caravan. It's the right one; it's loaded with stims"
"And?"
"But we've checked the bodies, sir. None of them fit the Sentinel's description."
"You mean the prisoner,"
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir…the prisoner,"
Hardin was slightly disappointed upon hearing this, but it was to be expected. Someone who was able to travel across the country and managed to escape their custody once before would be a challenge to find and confront again.
"So if our lead is right, one of those three who took off in the distance is the prisoner," said Hardin, thinking aloud, "There's nothing of further interest for us here. We're moving out."
"Sir, what about the medical supplies?" asked the Paladin.
"Booby trap them with explosives," ordered Hardin, "If our prisoner or any other raiders come by to pick them up, they'll have a little surprise waiting for them."