W

It was quiet that night in the Mojave. The dust was settling in, the moon was shining, the gentle silverlight lighting the darkest of spots. It was generally just too quiet for Don Angel. The former convict turned ganger was posted on his tower, having the spotlights turn every few minutes, in order to see if anyone was trying to sneak into the prison. The prison was heavily fortified, and with almost the entire strength of the Powder Gangers in the prison, anyone coming up with the intent of trying to take it over would die.

Lighting up a smoke, he let the spotlight bathe a spot right next to the chainlink fence, where desert rocks and plants flourished. A coyote howled, and he thought about shooting it with his varmint rifle, but he decided against it. The Hispanic male inhaled the toxic smoke, letting the age old tobacco and nicotine flood his lungs and his brain.

"That is a good smoke," he told himself. This was his third night on perimeter guard duty. Eddie had his best shots always on the towers, making sure that no one dared to mess with the Powder Gangers. Already he had taken shots at four New California Republic troopers, wounding one, killing another, and left holes on the sides of armor of the other two. He loved his rifle, cherished it, and took care of it. It had been with him since California, for the prisoner's personal items always followed and the Warden decided it was a good idea to place all their goodies in one location.

He then moved the spotlight to cover the main entrance, where Dawes was at all times. The black man slept right next to the door, ever vigilant in his guard duty. Of course, others would come and replace him, but he was a born doorman. He was awake, his .357 in his pistol holster and he was alert.

Raiding had been good. Just today, they had already taken out two caravans heading for the Mojave Outpost, ambushing them and taking them out. Two Legion detachments as well; their arms was being used by the patrols that Eddie sent out, and their armor being displayed on the prison as warning to any legionnaires that dared set this far west. Last week Joe Cobb's crew had hit up a Crimson Caravan...caravan, and had slaughtered the guards, but a man by the name of Ringo had fled to Goodsprings. Cobb had been ordered to sort them out.

The Powder Gangers were a major power. Already, they had a crew in Goodsprings, several patrols and camps, and a splinter group raising hell in Primm with the New California Republic. The prison was not supplying the bastards at the small town of Primm, and Richard Reeves could go to hell for all Don thought.

He then started to fiddle with his bolt on his rifle. He hadn't been on a raid in four days; the last time he went they had ambushed an NCR patrol and taken their weapons and had buried their bodies in the radioactive pools of water near one of their camps. They had tried to learn if the New California Republic had any plans to take back the prison; after all they numbered in the dozens, and the NCR numbered in the thousands.

But he reminded himself that a bunch of dirty gangers were just a nuisance compared to the numerous legionnaires. They were going to deal with the freaking Legion, and if they won, they would be coming back to take care of business. But that wasn't for a while. So for now, Don figured he would kick back, relax, and let his raid on.

Finally, around two in the morning, another Powder Ganger came up, armed with a varmint rifle as well, and relieved him. Nodding his thanks, he went down the stairs, and headed straight into the prison blocks, in order to get some needed rest. As soon as he tumbled asleep, a massive explosion echoed through the camp.

Zephyr looked at the new changing of the guard, and he saw that Paladin Alexander was pacing back and forth his tri-beam rifle in hand, waiting for the signal. Zephyr noted that anger had clouded his judgement, otherwise he would have never let the stranger clad in ancient armor find out that he was a Brotherhood Paladin. The other two Paladins were kneeling, one of them looking through the scope of his gauss rifle, sweeping the rifle from guard to guard, wanting to pull the trigger. The other one looked at Zephyr, his massive laser machine gun trained on the guard right next to the door leading to the prison.

"How many more minutes?" the Paladin asked impatiently. It had been a solid two hours since the Courier had saved Veronica's life, and the mismatched group had come up with a plan. Two Paladins, Paladin Alexander and his Gatling Laser wielding comrade would storm the prison, while Zephyr would skirt around the back and hit the admin building. Paladin Rico would stay on the hill and snipe, taking out all the guards and the searchlights.

"Wait...wait...now!" and then the C4 timed charges that Zephyr had, another thing he had purchased from Chet, exploded. A massive hole in the fence was now there, gaping for all the world to see. Two Powder Gangers were thrown a clear ten feet, landing on their backs, charred.

The camp exploded into a fury of activity, trying to find out the culprit. But before that happened, the Paladin sniper placed a 2mm round right between the eyes of a Powder Ganger, catapulting him back a few feet, and throwing him clear off the guardhouse. Reloading with precision, the sniper then placed a round in the next Powder Ganger, while Alexander and his comrade went charging down the hill, a tri-beam laser bisecting another Powder Ganger in half. The night attack threw off the Powder Gangers, having not expecting an assault, and Zephyr made them pay when he put a .308-6 round straight between the eyes of another Powder Ganger, his head exploding.

Running now, the Courier then leaped straight through the hole in the fence, watching as the Powder Gangers traded fire with the Brotherhood. Four more Powder Gangers went down, two of them into ash, and Zephyr didn't know how this carnage was possible. Skirting around the edges of the battle, he placed three rounds into a dynamite carrying Powder Ganger, killing him, and the dynamite exploded, hot fragments penetrating another Powder Gangers light body armor. He howled before he was killed by a roving bullet.

Placing C4 on the wall that was the admin building, he backed up a bit, before looking at his detonator. He winced, as a few bullets impacted on his armor, knocking the wind out of him. He turned to see a surprised Powder Ganger with a 9mm in his hands, before he was blown away by Zephyr's rifle. Zephyr then looked at the building, and praying to God, pressed the trigger to the detonator, and watched as the wall tumbled away in a flash of smoke and fire.

"Damn…" the man muttered softly, before squeezing off three more rounds into the dust, his night vision telling him that a Powder Ganger was emerging from the building. The former prisoner went down in the dirt, three gaping holes in his chest, before five more Powder Gangers emerged from the smoke, all of which were clad in Kevlar and sunglasses. Zephyr reloaded quickly, placing another mag of ammo straight into his rifle.

But as that happened, the five Powder Gangers raised their weapons and fired.

9mm full metal jacket rounds impacted all around Zephyr, more than one hitting him. He winced before diving, as the submachine guns continued their unrelenting storm. The storm of lead continued to impact near him, kicking up dirt and pebbles. He dived once more, this time right behind a picnic table, and winced as three more rounds hit his armor. He clenched his rifle, before popping straight out of cover.

And then time slowed.

The first Powder Ganger was in the midst of reloading when Zephyr squeezed the trigger twice, the armor piercing rounds erupting from the barrel, smoke dancing in the moonlight morning, before spiraling towards their target. The Powder Ganger was in slow motion, before the two rounds entered him, one through the chest, and the other right through the shoulder. He went down tumbling, mortally wounded.

The next one was a bit quicker, squeezing off a dozen rounds, but none of them hit Zephyr. That didn't matter, for Zephyr let loose with a single round, and the Powder Ganger died.

And just like that, the rest of them were dead, all of them with a single mag. Zephyr then reloaded quickly, before heading towards the hole in the wall. The other Powder Gangers were quickly being killed by the Brotherhood, and the falling body of one of them showed him that the Brotherhood was not to be messed with.

Eddie was scared. Despite his usual demeanor, the sudden and destructive attack knocked him off balance. At least half of his men were dead, all of the guards in the towers were dead, and five of his seven bodyguards were dead as well. He clutched his plasma pistol, one that he had taken after he had found and killed a Brotherhood scout, before motioning for his two remaining guards to push the couch against the door, he and the other two taking positions right behind it. Scrambler was waiting for the intruder, in the room that lead to his office, and he wondered if he had sent his friend to his death.

Zephyr ran up the stairs, ignoring the three Powder Gangers that were cowering. It was too quiet, and he wondered what the hell was going on. He was clutching his rifle, as he slowly came up the stairs, sweeping every corner, before he would check out the rooms. As he was satisfied that the stairs was clear, he went up into the main room upstairs, a desolate place filled with nothing but ruined furniture and nothing else. As he did so, suddenly, he felt white hot pain course through his body when someone slammed his fist straight into his chest, winding him.

"Damn it…" Zephyr muttered, before looking up. It was a massive man, at least six feet four inches, and had a bloodshot eye. His right eye was covered by an eyepatch, while hair was in a mohawk. He was wielding a pair of brass knuckles, while a massive bumper sword was on his back.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," the man said, before kicking Zephyr on the side. He cursed as his breath was knocked straight out of his lungs. The man was sinister, no doubt, and his eye proved it. It was just emitting mal intent, and he wondered what the hell this guy's name was.

"The name is Scrambler," the man said, as if reading his mind," and they do so because I mess people up so bad they don't which part goes when I'm done."

And that made Zephyr's skin crawled.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you. Gotta do it with my blade, otherwise the meat isn't as tasty…" Scrambler said before howling with laughter.

"Any last words?" Scrambler asked, before drawing his blade. Zephyr rolled his eyes at the cliche last words thing, before nodding no. Scrambler laughed, and he plunged his blade down.

And that was something he should have never done.

Zephyr leaped out, his armored glove scraping along the edge of the blade. His other hand went straight to his own blade.

And Dragon's Teeth was going to show why Powder Gangers weren't going to last very long in the Mojave. Withdrawing the sharp blade, he parried a blow from Scrambler, before ducking a wild swing to his head. Something just flowed into Zephyr. He had been in this position before.

"Parry!"

And so Zephyr did.

"Strike!"

And so Zephyr did. His blade was a blur when his katana slammed straight into the bumper sword, knocking Scrambler off balance.

"Block!"

And Zephyr did, knocking the massive man's blade to the side, trapping it on the ground.

"Finish."

And Zephyr did. His blade was a blur when he placed massive strength into his blade, sword and mid becoming one.

"Done."

Zephyr watched as Scrambler's body fell to the ground, his head missing. His blade was sticky with red, and he clutched it, before cleaning it off with a clean cloth that he had. Placing the sword back in his scabbard, he grabbed his last C4, placed right next to the door, walked five paces away, and detonated it.

Alexander was finishing up, executing Powder Ganger after Powder Ganger. All of them were dead, except for the ones the man named Zephyr was fighting in the main building. He wondered if he had to go and get him, but a massive explosion told him that he didn't. Five minutes later, the man walked out, with a slight limp, but he was fine.

"Any serious opposition?" Alexander asked him and the man shook his head no. As Alexander nodded, the man handed him something. It was a plasma pistol, one that looked like it belonged to a certain knight that he had once knew.

Knight Williams. A good man, killed in action just right after the Powder Gangers staged their escape. A good scout. No one knew where his body was, but his plasma pistol was one that he took care of, one that he had taken pride in.

"Thank you…"the Paladin muttered, before putting it away. The other two of his Brothers soon appeared right next to him.

"Paladin Alexander...what are we going to do with the stranger? He knows where our base is, he knows that the Brotherhood exists, he knows your name and he knows the name of your sister. Unless we take him with us, he will need to die," the Gatling Laser wielding one said to him. Alexander knew this, but the man had saved his sister and had help take revenge on the monsters that dared to do this. But the lockdown meant that no one was to know where their base was. He had to either kill the man or lock him up forever. But was that fair? No it wasn't. The code demanded it.

But he was sick of the Code. He was sick of waiting. He was sick of just being out here, not doing anything. They had managed to cleanse an entire raider camp! An entire prison. He was shocked of the amount of people he had killed, but he had been at Helios One. He would be banished from the Brotherhood for this, and the others as well. But he knew what he had to do. He had to save his Brothers from banishment.

"Tell the Elder that I died in a maddening assault. That you dragged my body and buried me next to my parents...that you buried me with my armor, just like a Paladin of old. Tell them...I did my duty to humanity. Tell the Head Paladin I'm sorry. Tell Veronica I'm sorry," the Paladin said and the other ones looked at him with awe.

"Alex, you don't mean to tell us…" Paladin Rico said before Alexander cut him off.

"Yeah. I'm leaving the Brotherhood," and the two other Paladins stood up straight. They were his friends, his brother in arms. But he had to face the consequences. He had to face the music for his decision, his rash decision. Turning to Zephyr, he asked only a simple question.

"Zephyr, are you looking for someone to help you on any of your journeys?"

Juno watched the entire exchange, looking through her high powered field binoculars. She now knew that the Brotherhood was indeed real, and that one day, well, she would most likely have to destroy them. Crassus was next to her, the old ghoul smiling. She watched as the four parted ways, one of the Paladins walking away from the other ones and joining Zephyr.

"Looks like the lad has a knack for making some powerful friends," the old ghoul said. The future Empress scoffed. She had noticed his fighting prowess, taking down at least a dozen Powder Gangers, and watched as he executed a textbook operation. Whoever he was, whatever his past, it had ex-military written all over it.

She was impressed by the man and thought that she had rescued a worthy warrior. She realized that she needed someone like that working for her. Someone that knew the ins and outs of the wasteland. She needed someone that was not a legionnaire to guide her in her journey to take over the Mojave for her father. She knew, that despite her skills, she was not all that well at adapting, while Crassus and her guards were just too Legion to even go out in the open.

She made up her mind then.

She was going to Goodsprings and she was going to speak to the man that she saved. The stranger she saved. the man whom name she did not know. She packed up her equipment, before planting the standard of the Legion on the hill. She needed to make a quick stop in Nipton to see an old friend.

In the waking dawn, right near the ski resort now known as Jacobstown, a Vertibird with the marking of a dragon landed with grace, near an old abandoned refueling station for Vertibirds. Six men piled out, each armed with assault rifles or shotguns. Clad in black combat armor, they were here for one purpose and one purpose only.

To find the Son of the Dragon and return him to his home.

They filed into two columns, each of them wary of their surroundings. The Vertibird then lifted into the sky, before climbing to two thousand feet, and heading East, towards an old abandoned military facility, not knowing that the Bear had knowledge of them. The communications officer then fired off a message to NCR High Command at Hoover Dam, and before they knew it, three Rangers were making their way towards the land known as Jacobstown, to see if any of them knew anything.

And unknown to all of them, a certain overlord watched with curiosity. The Courier that had been hired to deliver his chip had been shot and then recovered remarkably. He had scouts keeping track of the Courier, while he had scouts keeping track of the Vertibird reaching out east, now over New Vegas. He ran calculations and tried to find data on the Courier and his past, but was unable to do so. No databases knew of him, and the only thing the NCR had on him was that he had delivered a package to Hopeville near the Divide.

That wouldn't matter anyway. He knew that the man like the Courier would try to find the man that shot him. Benny was somewhere between Primm and Boulder City, and he had a team of mercenaries tracking him down. He would have his chip and with that...an army that would protect Vegas. An army that would stand out as a beacon of hope, as a beacon that humanity wasn't going to perish again. Five seconds later, he had three scouts heading near Nellis Air Force Base, tracking the Vertibird, while he sent a message to Victor.

KEEP EYES ON COURIER. FOLLOW HIM. WHEN REACHES BOULDER CITY OR NEAR THERE, HEAD TO VEGAS.

And in a certain nuclear missile silo, a man, darkened by the horrors he had witnessed, was sitting silently, waiting for the signal. The man of the Old World was going to have his talk with Zephyr, son of Zachary, the Son of the Dragon, and the One Who Walks the Lonesome Road.

Come back soon Zephyr. For you must pay for your sins.

So for such the long wait. I was stuck and I needed some guidance. Thanks to CyberJordan for inspiring indirectly with his story. Please read, review. No flames, but constructive criticism always welcomed!

-DeathBladeVI