Okay this is the new and improved version of the chapter i hope everyone likes it
Ashlyn and her new companion ED-E began the long walk to Nipton from Primm. It was a normal calm walk until off in the distance Ashlyn spotted two Powder Gangers on the road. The Courier crouched and drew her rifle then aimed at one of the men. He dropped, but before Ashlyn shot. She and the robot viewed the final man fall as a woman and two men walked farther from the side of the building they had walked from as they shot the men.
"Okay it looks like we have some raiders to fight." Ashlyn said as she pulled two 9mm pistols out as she slung her rifle back over her shoulder. "Better prove useful or I might turn you in to an awesome helmet."
ED-E beeped as he quickly hovered towards the raiders firing his laser at them. The red beams seared the exposed flesh of the raiders causing them to scream in pain; all the while Ashlyn only looked at the sight in awe. The Courier realized that she hadn't contributed at all to the fight as ED-E floated back towards her.
"Meany." Ashlyn said sticking her tongue out towards the robot.
ED-E slid a chip out from the front of his body mocking The Courier further.
"Hell you might just become a helmet anyway." teased Ashlyn poking at the robot "Let's check that building though there might be more inside."
The odd pair walked the one hundred or so feet to the building. Ashlyn searched all of the bodies; covering her face so that she didn't smell the seared flesh of the dead raiders. She found random weapons as she figured a 9mm pistol, a .357 revolver and a combat knife. Ashlyn stood back up and saw a piece of metal shining on one of the bodies. It was a frag grenade.
"What luck." Ashlyn thought smiling. "Whether I sell it or use it it's gonna make up for the work E-DE did to help me get it."
Ashlyn walked towards the door to the building; she looked at the black and white cars that where in front of it. She motioned for ED-E to get closer to her as she began to open the door. As she pushed the door open with the barrel of the pistol in her right hand she was a woman inside; she was wearing raider armor. The Courier kicked the door in and fired her pistols at the woman tearing into her torso quickly killing her. ED-E fired a laser hitting the raider that Ashlyn had not seen in the room.
"Showoff." Ashlyn grumbled to herself.
E-DE beeped as he floated to a door with the hinges half broken off and pushed against it and went into the hall. Ashlyn heard some more doors open and a couple of laser shots as she finished looting the bodies of the raiders. She only found some random ammo and bottle caps. ED-E floated back to Ashlyn's side as she stood up. Knowing that ED-E had killed something in the hallway and beyond; The Courier walked through the door into the small hallway with three doors in it. The door at the end was pushed open revealing metal bars with benches inside.
Ashlyn walked towards the door of the bar wall. She tried to pull it with success and walked to the dead body lying on the ground with a hefty pack lying next to them. The person's eyes where still open with a cloudy gaze towards the ceiling. Ashlyn slid the man's eyes closed and said a quick prayer; then took the pack out of the room back to the entrance of the building.
The bag was like a treasure chest to a wastelander. All sorts of medication such as Med-X, stimpacks and some Buffout; it had assorted types of ammunition but in large quantities. Ashlyn saw what she had always been looking for a .44 magnum revolver.
"OH MY GOD!" Ashlyn screamed with joy "I FINALLY FOUND ONE!"
E-DE looked at his master while making a beeping sound and slid the chip out of his body once again to mock her.
"Can it ya bucket of bolts" Ashlyn said sticking her tongue out at the pesky robot.
Ashlyn packed up all of the useful items then walked back into the Mojave. She walked down the road to the broken overpass to the right the road went up to a prewar gas station, straight in front of her was the wreckage of the broken overpass covering the road underneath. Ashlyn walked towards the gas station. ED-E fired at some scorpions that Ashlyn had neglected to notice. She pulled her rifle off her back and fired at the still living scorpions and the duo quickly dispatched the bugs.
Off in the distance where to gigantic figures standing near the road that rose into the pass between the mountains. Ashlyn knew what those figures where; Rangers of the NCR.
"I think we should go to the outpost before we head to Nipton." Ashlyn said to the robot floating by her head "Do you agree?"
ED-E just floated for a few seconds then started to slowly float towards the road leading to the outpost just past the statues.
"Guess it's settled then." The Courier said smiling.
Ten minutes and The Courier and her robotic companion had reached the NCR outpost near the statues. Ashlyn had been here once before when she came to the Mojave. She vaguely remembered where she could get some repairs for her weapons and she would have to find a trader to sell or buy anything. Ashlyn walked to the main office first to get her armor patched up.
"Hey can you repair my armor?" Ashlyn asked the soldier behind the counter.
"Sure I'll do what I can. You can change out of it in one of the spare rooms in the hall." He said.
"Okay. Is there anything I can do in the meantime?" Ashlyn asked.
"Actually, yes. Talk to Ranger Jackson, he should be somewhere back around where you'll be changing." The soldier said.
Ashlyn nodded and walked into the hall and peeked into a room. Upon finding it empty she entered and closed the door behind her leaving ED-E in the hall.
"For all I know he's gonna record me changing" Ashlyn thought to herself slightly embarrassed.
Ashlyn stripped her armor off and began to dig out her vault suit she got from Doc Mitchell. She slid herself into the suit and folded the leather armor up and placed it on the ground next to her backpack. She sat cross legged by her belongings and started to fiddle with her pip-boy. As she looked at the screen she was the time 3:47 P.M. Ashlyn flipped through the screens to her radio and tuned into Radio New Vegas.
Ashlyn sat for a couple minutes to listen to a song or two and relax. The first to play was titled "Big Iron". She sat and listened to the soothing song. As the song ended Ashlyn shut off the radio and rose grabbing her belongings. She pushed open the door into the hall to reveal ED-E floating in front of a man in ranger attire.
"Jackson?" Ashlyn asked the man.
"Yea that's me I heard you talking to Knight, so do you really want to help out?"Jacksonasked.
"Yes, I like to know I've made a difference wherever I go." The Courier said with a smile.
"If you could I need to get a road cleared so the caravans can get moving again." The ranger said.
"What do I have to do?" Ashlyn asked.
"Towards the old gas station the destroyed overpass is overrun with giant ants."Jacksonstated.
"We can take care of it in about thirty minutes time." Ashlyn said pulling ED-E towards herself. "See you then."
Jacksonnodded towards Ashlyn as she walked away.
Ashlyn was back to the derelict gas station in minutes. She walked slowly to the edge of the broken overpass and began to fire at the gigantic ants that where scurrying around the rubble. The ants fell as bullets from Ashlyn's rifle caused there hard carapaces to shatter and cave in. ED-E's lasers did less damage in comparison to the bullets only scorching the carapace and slowing the ants.
"Huh, that was easier than I thought it would be." Ashlyn said scratching the back of her head "Lets head back then.."
Ashlyn slightly disappointed from the easy victory walked back to the outpost with her radio once again playing. "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" began to play over Ashlyn's pip-boy.
And they sing, "Oh, ain't you glad you're single?"
Jingle, jangle
And that song ain't so very far from wrong
"When will I find a guy who will treat me right?" Ashlyn asked out loud.
ED-E looked in the direction of Novac and beeped once.
"Thanks ya tin can, you're just so helpful." Ashlyn said ending with a sigh letting her shoulders droop.
Ashlyn walked back to the main office of the outpost to retrieve her armor and tellJacksonthat the task was finished. She retrieved her armor fully repaired for sixty caps. The Courier then proceeded to speak withJackson.
"Jacksonwe killed all of the ants at the overpass." Ashlyn said as she entered the lounge.
"Good, thank you for the hard work." The ranger said "Here it's the least I can do."
"Uh thanks?" Ashlyn said questioningly as she took the bundle of items.
Ashlyn walked into the room she had used to change in before and stripped her vault suit off then folded it. As she was putting the suit into her pack she checked the time 4:12 P.M.
"I should be able to make it to Nipton by sunset at this rate." Ashlyn thought "I should be able to stay the night there."
The Courier finished putting her leather armor back on then inspected the bundle of items she got fromJackson. Ashlyn unwrapped the cloth around the items and found some ammo, armor piercing, some food and a rifle that was standard issue of the NCR military. She stored the items in her pack and slung the rifle over her back. She pushed the room's door open to reveal ED-E looking directly at her. This act being something Ashlyn didn't expect she punched ED-E out of the air and he hit the ground with a clanking sound but soon rose back up to eye level.
"Sorry, don't scare mama like that." Ashlyn said rubbing her hand that had struck the robot.
ED-E made sad sounds by beeping.
"I said I was sorry." She said to the robot. "Anyway let's get going to Nipton."
Ashlyn and her companion left the outpost and began the trek to Nipton. They encountered a group of raiders which they quickly dispatched along with giant ants and a couple of bark scorpions. The Courier looked towards Nipton; it was burning. Legion flags where flying around the town.
"Oh my god…" Ashlyn said in horror.
The Courier quickly ran to the town with the hope of possibly saving a survivor from the attack. She was unable to do so due to the fact the Legion still occupied the city. She looked towards the town hall and saw the soldiers dressed in red with machetes and simple arms; they where accompanied by dogs, mongrels as most called them. The figured that stood out most prominently was a man dressed in higher ranking Legion attire wearing a hood made from a dogs head.
What struck Ashlyn as surprising is they did not attempt to attack her; she was a woman after all something the Legion chose to treat worse than dirt. Instead of shooting her as she slowly walked towards them the man with the hood walked towards her and began to speak.
"I had almost lost hope that someone would find us so early." said the man in an almost purring voice "I am Vulpes Inculta, the greatest of Caesar's Frumentarii."
"And you." Vulpes continued in the same tone "You are the one to witness what we have done here. You are going to tell of what has become of the people here."
Ashlyn nodded unable to summon the strength to speak to the man who radiated power and class.
"Then I bid you vale." Vulpes said "Until we meet again."
Ashlyn only stood and watched as the Legion soldiers left the burning town.
Ashlyn stood for what seemed like hours petrified to afraid to move. When she finally mustered the strength to brush away a stray strand of hair from her face, she decided it would be best to hastily make her way to Novac. Ashlyn began to walk along the road to the town. The Courier walked past the railroad tracks and heard beeping sounds as she walked near a orange traffic cone. Then a bright flash blinded her as a landmine blew up just feet from her.
Ashlyn rose from the ground she was forced to when the mine exploded; left arm cut by shrapnel with metal bits embedded in her armor. She pulled out one of her pistols incase she had to fight the raiders who had set a trap. ED-E did most of the work killing the ambushers as Ashlyn barely fought; trying to get to cover and nurse her wounds. Ashlyn pulled out the shrapnel that managed to stick into her arm. She hissed again as she pulled out the last of four pieces then wrapped her arm with some cloth. Finally she pulled out a syringe of Med-X and took a quarter of a dose to dull the pain.
Ashlyn felt the Med-X kick in quickly; she only knew this because she felt the pain almost completely disappear and she felt like her mind was swimming slightly. Ashlyn stood up as ED-E rounded the truck she was hiding behind; she took this as a sign that the raiders were now dead. Holstering her pistol she began to quickly walk along the road avoiding any further traffic cones. Ashlyn was at the ranger within ten minutes and still keeping a good speed trying to avoid being caught outside of Novac after the sunset. Through her slightly blurred eyes she saw Novac as she began to walk past the station leaving drops of her own blood behind herself.
Ashlyn was halfway to Novac from the station when her movements began to slow ever so slightly. Her degradation in movement began to worsen as she got closer to the town. She managed to make it to the middle of the town before she really began to bleed from her wounds sustained earlier. Standing in the middle of the town she attempted to turn to walk to the motel but only fell. Ashlyn's last memories before succumbing to blood loss were the sunset and a man shouting something.