Planning Ahead.
I do not own Fallout. Fallout is the property of Bethesda. I own only my OC's
Romulus and Remus walked past the bodies of several feral ghouls, all of them with holes in their heads. Remus bent down to study a discarded shell.
".308 caliber bullet, the kind used often in sniper rifles." He knelt down to further study a dead ghoul.
"All of the signs of a long range fighter." Romulus continued, leaning on the other side of the same ghoul. Remus stood up and looked at several piles of ashes, some near what looked to be Rebar clubs.
"There was some kind of battle here, though it is hard to tell who won." Remus stood up and moved closer to the bridge that stood overhead.
"Or who was even fighting." Romulus walked behind his brother, one hand on his Machete in case there were more enemies nearby. They both felt the ground shake, and saw a large opening appear in the roof of one of the buildings in front of them. They both watched in awe as three rockets launched from the building.
The two brothers stood there for a short time until they saw someone leaving the building. It was a woman with bright red hair, Studded leather armor, and a hunting rifle strung over her shoulder, and a nine millimeter pistol at her hip.
"That must be her" Romulus began to stand up move toward her, but had his arm grabbed by his brother.
Remus shook his head, "Do you really plan on just going up to her and asking if she is this courier we are after?" When the older sibling nodded, Remus sighed, rolling his eyes. "What we need to do is join her by coincidence! Father won't attack the dam until we have a report on this woman, so we can take it slow!"
This was all he could say without the girl overhearing him. She had seen them from a distance, and had approached cautiously with her rifle drawn. Remus moved ahead of his brother, and approached the woman slowly. "Hello there, friend! We came to because we heard about ghouls troubling the town nearby. My name is Nathan and this is my brother, Robert." He gestured back to his brother, who nodded.
The woman looked at the brothers with a suspicious look, but her rifle was relaxed somewhat. "Well, the ghouls have been dealt with. You two look like mercenaries, that right?"
Remus nodded. "We usually work as guards for people. Our last job was back in California. We were protecting some guy who felt that the Van Graff family was going to give him trouble. We didn't think he was serious, so we accepted the job. Things went south pretty quickly when it turned out it the Van Graff's really wanted him dead. We had to run to the frontier to dodge them. All we had on us was our routine equipment when we left. We took this job to make some money to pay for the rest of the trip to New Vegas." Remus finished the story he had prepared ahead of time, and even Romulus was impressed by the detail he had woven into the falsehood.
The courier seemed to be buying it. "That's pretty rough. I saved you the trouble of dealing with the ghouls though. They were in those rockets that just flew off. How about a deal? You tell your employer that the ghouls are gone, collect the reward, and we'll split it down the middle. Sound good to you?"
She extended a hand which Remus accepted. "Sounds like our luck is turning up already! Do you have a name miss?"
"My names Emma, I'm a former courier for the Mojave Express." The three began the walk back down the roadway towards Novac, swapping stories between them.
When they reached the town, they split up. Emma went to the Hotel, saying that she needed to finish some business, and the sons of Caesar walked in the direction of a house. They knocked on the door, and when no one answered, they tried the handle. The door opened, and the two entered, waited for a minute or two, and then left again.
They met up with Emma outside of the hotel, and Remus offered a bag of caps to her. "200 Caps, as we agreed." She took the bag and placed into a backpack that she had picked up from her room. "I guess we will see you another time then." Remus turned to leave, and gave his brother a look to do the same, until Emma addressed them.
"Actually, how would you two like to earn this money back, and then some?" Remus smirked in victory for the slightest moment, before turning around.
"What are you proposing?" He asked.
"I need to get to Vegas, and if the rest of the road is anything like the path so far, I wouldn't mind some backup. So I'll hire you to get me to New Vegas. Get me there safely, and I'll pay you 700 caps. Then you can find some more work while you're there. Does that sound like a deal?"
Remus turned to look at his brother, and he nodded, keeping up the act. Remus turned and extended his hand out. "Looks like we'll be traveling together for a while then."
The group decided to set out immediately, and try to make it to the 188 Trading post before dark. As they walked, both brothers began to separately plan the next step.
Romulus spent some time talking to Emma, learning about how she survived being shot in the head and her battles against the Powder Gangers that followed soon after. Romulus was impressed that a woman had accomplished so much so quickly. He knew that his father was right about her; If she couldn't be convinced to help them, she was a threat that would have to be dealt with.
Remus on the other hand was thinking several steps beyond the coming battle for Hoover Dam. He began to account for how much of a role Emma could play in his bid for his father's throne. Romulus would have the support of much of the Legion's troops, and possibly even the Legate Lanius, if the Legate didn't also wish for the throne. Remus could count on the Frumentarii to support him, but he would need more.
He looked at the woman walking ahead of him, telling his brother of her exploits in Primm.
'If she is as dangerous as Father believes, then she is too valuable to waste.' Remus returned to his plans. Hoover Dam would have to be where he would lay down his cards. To win the game however, he needed to remove the other players, and be the last one at the table. This meant that one way or another, His brother and Lanius both had to be defeated! Remus smirked once again, his plan for the future now set. Emma would become his ace in the hole. Even if she didn't know she was, she would help him become the next Caesar! _
A.N.
I hope you enjoyed this long overdue chapter, and I would appreciate a review. I want to be able to improve this story, and all others to follow, so please tell me where and how you think I should improve.
The 25th Doctor