Boone hasn't talked to the courier about the whole "I had to mercy-kill my wife" issue, so she's shouting more out of nationalism than anything.
And this is the last of the pre-written one-shots.
Nelson
Eventually, it was decided that the first thing they needed to do was reinforce as many NCR stations as they could. Neither Arcade nor Veronica were totally comfortable with the idea, for slightly different reasons that both ended with gunshots, but Meda had made it clear that she didn't think any other group had the military force to oppose the Legion at the moment. Or the inclination, if there was a third side in the conflict.
Their plans were almost derailed when Boone, Veronica, Arcade, Rex, and the courier walked into what should have been Nelson.
Li spoke to Ranger Milo as the sun began to set, asking about, for example, why the hell the rangers had apparently been shoved entirely out of the town by the Legion. And why there was, at best, half a squad of them left. For the most part, only Rex seemed to pay any attention to the entire affair, though Boone was always listening with half an ear, even when he was supposedly playing Caravan with Arcade and Veronica (and winning).
Then all of them got to see the courier snarl something at Ranger Milo, flip him the bird, and stomp back over to them.
"Okay, you know what?" she snapped as she sat down on a sandbag, "Fuck him."
"What exactly happened to Nelson?" Arcade broke in before she could really get going—the woman could brood worse than Boone on some days. On days like that, menstrual jokes started flying. Mostly between Cass and Veronica, though.
"Legion busted in, kicked their asses, and strung up a few of their buddies as hostages." Li said bluntly. "And Ranger Milo seems to think the only way to motivate his leftover boys to take the town back is to mercy kill their friends."
Boone went very, very still. It wouldn't have been noticeable to someone who hadn't traveled alongside him for a while, but it was already setting off warning klaxons in Veronica's head.
"Which is something we are not going to do," she said harshly. "From what I can tell, the commander of the Legionaries down there is a guy called Dead Sea, and he has about twenty soldiers with him. And since he's got hostages, he thinks he's safe."
Veronica cracked her knuckles. "When are we leaving?"
"More specifically, what should our plan of attack be?" Arcade asked, hoping to insert a little sense into the conversation. "While I'm flattered that you think we can take on more than twice our number in Legionaries, we need at least a partial understanding of both the terrain and our avenues of approach."
The courier nodded. "I've already looked around. As it is now, there are at least four ridges overlooking Nelson and anyone with experience with a rifle—not me—should be able to pick off most of them easily."
"I'll take it." Boone said quietly.
"They have dogs." Veronica said, thinking back. "A couple of the rookie rangers had bite wounds when Arcade and I went to hand out stimpaks. So that means Rex and I are going in."
"Right." Meda drew one of her rustier knives and began scraping out the rough outline of their plan in the dust. "Think you can circle around without getting caught? I think the dogs and the gunners are at the back, but they won't be looking behind them when the shooting starts."
"For safety's sake, it might be better if both Boone and I are firing from the ridge." Arcade suggested. "Or perhaps you can get Ranger Milo to help us? He ought to be useful somehow, even if he seems to be a worthless commander."
"He's got a rifle—might as well." Meda admitted grudgingly. "If he agrees to help, you're heading down there with Veronica, Rex, and me. Or maybe I circle around alone and you all start the fight." She shrugged. "I can outfight at least some of them with a machete if I have to, but once the ones in the lookout towers see one of us, we can say goodbye to our tactical advantage."
"Not if I get them first." Boone muttered.
"Point taken." Meda said. "So, should we hit them before dawn?"
"Sounds like a plan." Veronica said. "But let me lead the charge this time, all right?"
"Far be it from me to advise saying no to the woman who can punch a man's head off. You're going to be a better distraction than the rest of us." Arcade said mildly. "Just try to lead them away from the hostages and the problem should solve itself. Particularly considering that 'away from the hostages' and 'toward Boone' should be the same direction."
In the early hours of the morning, after the crazy courier had argued Ranger Milo into giving them a chance, Boone sat at the edge of the ridge. He couldn't sleep at all—not for lack of trying, even with Li offering him some of her calming tea (which he wasn't going to touch, given that he was never sure what crazies like her would put in it) and the others volunteering to take the first watch. He found himself staring down at the poor bastards strapped to the crucifixes down below, thinking.
"Hey." Li said, sitting down with a dull thump next to him. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Boone said, brushing off her concern.
"…Right." She didn't sound even slightly convinced. She handed him a cracked mug with some steaming hot drink in it. "Here, take this."
"What is it?" he asked, staring at it with the kind of suspicion most people had for tripwires.
"Just hot water with sugar and salt, or what's left of it. They haven't been resupplied in forever and the Legion taking their camp didn't help." Li said, yawning. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "So, why are you still awake? It's my watch, like it's been for the past hour and a half, and one of the rangers is taking the next one."
He didn't say anything.
"That bad, huh?" Li sighed, looking down toward Nelson and, later, their fight. "After thinking it over, I probably gave Ranger Milo too much shit over this whole thing."
"Really," said Boone.
"Well, I started thinking about what I'd do if one of you got caught by the Legion and strung up like that and. Um. Kinda couldn't think." She shifted uncomfortably. "But I'd still try rescue, if there was a chance like there is here. It's not like this is Fortification Hill or anything."
God dammit, don't talk about that! "So you think Milo should try anyway."
"At the very least, he should have admitted it was an option. He shouldn't have come up to me first thing and said, 'by the way, I can't get any of my men to actually do anything, so could you please execute all of the hostages for me?'" Li spat, sending a withering glare back toward the Ranger half of the encampment.
"When do we move?" Boone asked, rather than thinking about anything—anything—to do with Carla and…fuck. That wasn't working either. "It'll be easier if we attack when they're asleep."
"In about an hour." Li said, sighing again. "I just need to get Arcade up and kick Ranger Milo about his plan and things. And maybe feed Rex."
"You deal with Milo." Boone suggested after a moment or two. "I'll get Gannon."
"Sounds like a plan." Li said, unfolding herself from whatever stupid contortionist position she'd put herself in (again). "See you in five."
Forty-five minutes later, the group began to set up. While Ranger Milo's boys hung back and tried to stay out of the way, Boone and Milo himself found positions on the nearby ridgelines to scythe down the inevitable Legionary charge. Arcade was Boone's spotter, armed with a plasma pistol and Li's slightly-cracked binoculars, while Veronica and Rex rushed in to make a commotion. Li just disappeared, though Boone was sure he'd seen her creep past the line of cabins before the shooting started.
And then the screaming started.
It stopped fairly soon after Boone put a bullet between the eyes of the first Legion recruit he saw. Veronica's haymaker quickly put down the next one, while Rex and a Legion mongrel started trying to tear each others' legs off. Rex had him beat there—while the other dog bit uselessly at Rex's metal back legs, Rex fixed his teeth in his opponent's thigh and bone crunched. Arcade fired over Boone's shoulder, making a Legion idiot's ribcage dissolve in a splash of plasma and choking death. Over the hill, Ranger Milo was firing almost indiscriminately and eating through ammo like no one's business. Below, two Legionaries were charging straight for one of the cabins, only to suddenly collapse in mid-stride with blood spurting from their throats after the door swung open. None of the others noticed, mostly because Veronica and Rex had finished with their targets and were charging back into the fray.
It all seemed to be going according to plan. Then, in the distance, Boone saw a Legion scout's head explode into a mass of green goo through the scope and suddenly realized that Arcade was actually down there in Nelson, among the much faster combatants. Boone swore silently and followed him.
And then, Li emerged from one of the cabins. Besides looking like she had been the epicenter of a bloodbath recently, she was carrying a machete that was at least half again as long as the normal kind, as well as a man's head in her other hand. She held up both the machete and the head, laughing like a Fiend with a fresh dose of Psycho, and lobbed the head at the last Legionary left.
He disemboweled himself, but didn't die immediately. Li brought the huge machete down on his head to finish the job.
"Okay, now for the boys." Li said, not explaining anything. Then again, maybe she didn't need to. "Let's see what Ranger Milo thinks of our rescue mission now."
Later, they found out that the man she had decapitated was Dead Sea. He'd been killed in front of his own men, who had been subsequently butchered as far as anyone could tell. No one would have believed Li was capable of it, least of all Boone, but her blade-work was evident everywhere they looked. Legionaries didn't use knives that small.
For a long moment, Arcade picked over the bodies and wondered what it all meant.