Sorry for the long delay everyone. Had writer's block. Got some announcements here. First I won't be updating this story until I have the sample chapter of Pokemon Noire out. After that I'll update my Gilligan's Lost Island story. After that… maybe this story. Second, I won't be writing anymore author's notes. Instead they'll be up in my forum Ranger-A13's Corner under the title New Vegas Effect News and Author's Notes. I'll be doing this for all my stories.
Mike drew his anti-material rifle and turned to his right, the direction that Boon had said where the Legion troops were coming from. He counted about four of them, three basic Legion recruits and the other a centurion. Two of three recruits wielded machetes while the third had a caravan shotgun and the centurion carried a service rifle. Looking through the scope, Mike lined up the crosshair on the chest area of the centurion and squeezed the trigger. The legion soldier flew backwards, pushed by the force of the bullet, and landed several feet way from where he had stood. The other three, seemingly unfazed by their companion's death, continued to rush forward. They were only a hundred feet away but by the time Mike pulled back the bolt, to slide the next bullet into the chamber, and looked through the scope the rest of the legionaries were already dead.
"Well that was… different." Stated Garrus as he walked over to investigate one of the dead legionaries.
"Why did they charge us when we had the advantage?" Questioned Tali, "It doesn't make any sense."
"Do they typically charge forwards like that?" Asked Garrus who was examining the Legionaries body.
Nike frowned in confusion and replied, "Not like that. They-" but he was cut off as the sound of a single gunshot went off. Mike saw Garrus's body flickered with what looked like blue electricity that burst outward in an explosion.
"Shields down!" Exclaimed Garrus as he looked around for this attacker.
"Sniper!" Yelled Boone as he raised his sniper rifle and scanned the area from where the bullet had come from.
Mike examined their surroundings and was slightly comforted to see a few large rocks that they could use for cover. In face, Garrus and Tali were already behind one such boulder while Boone went prone, using the natural slope of the hill they were on as cover.
Mike followed Shepard as he dived behind another boulder, hoping to avoid being shot, "Does anyone see him?"
"Not enough time." Replied Garrus.
"Negative." Answered Tali
Shepard shook his head and Mike cursed, "Dammit. Knew something about that first attack was off." He stopped as another shot went off and flinched in surprised as the bullet chipped off a piece of the boulder he was crouched behind only a few inches from his head, "Fuck. Alright sounds like our legion friend here has himself an anti-material rifle and most likely he has armor-piercing rounds."
"I'm guessing that's bad." Replied Shepard.
"Yeah it is. They're deadly has hell. One bullet is all one needs to end your life." He shook his own anti-material rifle, "Trust me I know."
There was another shot and this time the bullet hit the boulder near Garrus.
"What do you suggest?" Asked Shepard, "You know Legion better than any of us."
It took Mike less than a second to come up with a solution, "Boone! See if you can spot him. We'll give you cover fire!"
Boone only nodded in acknowledgement and three seconds later Mike yelled, "Fire!" Both he and Shepard leaned out of cover and shot blindly in the direction of the sniper, Mike using his anti-material rifle and Shepard using a service rifle. Tali and Garrus were doing the same, standing up from cover, Tali using a 10mm pistol and Garrus using a marksman carbine. All four of them fired for only five seconds, enough time for Boone to spot the target, before getting back behind cover, but not unscathed. Just as Mike began to slide back into cover a sharp pain erupted in his left shoulder as the bullet passed completely through it. The force of the round caused him to lurch forward but amazingly managed to avoid falling down, which would expose himself to another shot. Still Mike slumped against the boulder and began breathing heavily.
"You alright?" Questioned Shepard, reaching over to him.
Mike waved him away, "I'm good," then taking a deep breath, he called out to Boone, "Did you see him Boone?"
"Barely, he's behind a rock as well. About twenty feet to the right of the Ultra Luxe sign."
"Could you not hit him?" Asked Tali.
"No. He moved out of my vision not a second after you guys began shooting." Replied Boone.
Doing his best to ignore the pain, Mike grabbed his anti-material rifle and called out to Garrus, "Garrus! You're a good marksman right?" The turian only nodded in agreement and Mike continued, "Take this rifle and kill the bastard!" Then, taking a breath, he tossed the rifle over to Garrus, who barely caught it, then cursed as a stab of pain erupted in his left shoulder. His vision blurred as he tried to take slow breaths and briefly wondered if the injury had been worse that what he had originally thought.
Garrus caught the large rifle, surprised by its weight, and peeked over the boulder. He looked for the spot where Boone had spotted the enemy and caught only a glimpse of a figure in red before he moved his head back behind cover. Now he was in a slightly difficult situation. He did not dare move from cover to try to hit the enemy lest he be shot at before being able to pull the trigger, nor did he want the others to provide him cover fire which could possibly cause the sniper to move out of his vision like had happened to Boone. The best idea was to wait for the sniper to reload, but when would that be? Checking the magazine, he saw that the anti-material rifle held eight rounds. How many had the enemy used? Four? He could not wait for the sniper to us his remaining rounds.
Though he did not like the idea, Garrus would have to wait between shots. If he was lucky, he would have a perfect target, if not, then he hoped his shields would hold against another round.
A shot rang out and without caring where the bullet was headed, he acted. Standing up from cover, he instantly aimed the weapon's scope at the sniper and squeezed the trigger. Somehow, he knew that it was a clean shot and watched in surprise as the body flew through the air. Slowly, Garrus turned his gaze down at the rifle and smiled. He liked this rifle. Though it had a heavy kickback and was difficult to handle, considering it was not designed for non-humans, the firepower and ammunition capacity was indeed impressive. He would have to find a way to get one of these for himself.
"Mike!"
The shout knocked all thoughts about the rifle out of his head as he returned to the situation at hand. Shepard crouched over Mike, who was bleeding profusely from a wound in his left shoulder, his omni-tool lit up as he began to apply medigel to the injury. Tali stood over them, obviously worried, while Boone continued to scan their surroundings, most likely keeping alert for another attack. As he began to hustle over to them, Shepard deactivated his omni-tool, "Is he going to be ok?"
Shepard nodded, "I'm not a doctor but the bleeding has stopped and his breathing is normal."
"It will take more than a simple gunshot to the shoulder to kill Mike," Assured Boone, "After all, he survived a bullet to the head."
"So interesting. Can create possible substitute. Dextro-amino based diet and Levo-amino based. Separate but configurable in this world. Will have to apply similar method when back to our universe."
Arcade Gannon listened with interest at the salarian's rapid-fire speech, smiling with amusement, "Didn't think it was possible but I just applied an application from one of my earlier projects. Amazing really."
The salarian nodded, "Yes yes. Interesting theory by the way. Using medicine from nature to substitute as modern medicine. Unrelated and yet it works."
Arcade chuckled, "You're the only person besides Mike to appreciate my work. I would have thought that someone in Mike's position, ruler of New Vegas, would not be bothered with such. Even when we first met he showed interest."
"Interesting person Mike, seems like a good leader, will lead this city to great things or at least keep it from falling into chaos. Almost like Omega but more benevolent." Commented Mordin.
"He was better than the other alternatives." Arcade almost grumbled the words out.
"Yes, Legion not good outcome. Would have led to revolution. The Republic good but susceptible to corruption. Mr. House probably little better than both but not a desirable outcome," Assured Mordin, "Seen results of similar organizations and their downfall."
He looked up at Mordin's statement with curiosity, "You have? When?"
"During my days in the STG, good times, what to hear?"
Shepard watched the unconscious Mike with concern. Not because he cared for him like he did for his crew and squad, but because Mike was important. If Mike were to die, they would be in a very difficult position. First off, Mike's companions would have suspicions and probably blame his death on them and, considering Mike's apparent reputation in New Vegas, most of the local population would be of the same mind. Also Mike was one of the only people who could help them, not only in getting them back to their universe but also in surviving this world as well. Without his aid, Shepard and his crew would likely not survive.
"What now?" Inquired Tali.
He stood and turned to gaze her, "All I can see to do is wait until he regains consciousness."
"Which I have." Stated Mike in a low, almost weary voice.
Shepard turned to see Mike slowly getting up. He offered a hand and Mike took it without hesitation. Pulling him to his feet, Shepard asked, "You alright?"
Mike looked at him with a weak smile and nodded, "I've had worse."
He wished he could believe it was not possible but from all the stories he had heard, combined with his own escapes from impossible odds, he could not. "So we good to go?"
Mike frowned and walked over to one of the dead legionaries, "Strip them for ammo and medical supplies. Rule number one of the wasteland, take what you need."
Taking Mike's advice, Shepard headed to another corpse but stopped short as Garrus hurried past him. Confused he called after his friend, "Where you going Garrus?"
His friend did not even stop or look back as he replied, "To get that sniper's weapon!"