"Yeah, there's two rounds missing."

"You sure about that Holly?"

"Yes, I am 'livi. Guns are kinda my thing, remember?"

There was so much going on in my head, but the moment that we entered the APC, one question shoved it's way past all the others. Who fired the gun? Sure, Whoever was responsible did save all of us, including Hope. I didn't feel sorry for that Red-Neck, but that pig, he deserved better. He didn't ask to die, but he was so broken that I don't think there would have been any other way. Jasmine told me that the slaves are tortured so much that a quick painless death was the only thing they wished for. I wanted to see those Red-Necks burn.

"Nate, could someone have hacked into the remote system?" I still wanted answers.

"Possibly, but I see no signs of digital tampering. Either no one cracked it, or there's a mammal out there with better hacking skills than the two of us combined."

That was a scary thought. It also made me a bit sad. I had gotten over my jealously about Nate being better than I was with hacks, but to think there was someone even better than the two of us? Part of me wanted to meet them and shake their paw. Another part of me wanted to just punch them square in the jaw.

"Is it possible that someone simply entered the APC and used the gun?"

"Well, Jasmine did leave in a hurry and the door was open, so possibly, but who?" Holly seemed to be curious where I was going.

"My only guess? Legionaries."

"Why would they want to help us 'livi?"

"From what I know, they're being paid more to capture me alive. If there was the possibility that I was going to die at the hooves of another mammal, don't you think they would try to do something to prevent that?"

"Sounds logical enough. Still, why not simply wait and ambush us here? Plus there are no signs of any mammal other than us entering here." Mark was busy trying to make sure Jasmine was comfortable. It sounded as if he simply wanted to add his thoughts so as to not be left out.

I don't know why this was bothering me so much. Yes, whoever was responsible saved us and probably the whole town, but they killed them so fast that I wasn't even able to work out a better solution. What Holly told me the other day about how I've changed, and not in a good way, was still bothering me. I didn't want to be the kind of mammal who solved everything with violence. I needed to be better than that.

"We're wasting time, let's just head for the Guardians."

"Good thinking 'livi. We could be here all day trying to play guess who and still come up empty pawed. Whoever it was is gone now."

We finalized checking all the systems. Nate wanted to make sure that whoever had been here didn't try to sabotage anything. The last thing we needed was to start moving only to get blown up. Once he had triple checked everything, he gave us the go ahead to head out. The last thing for me to do was make sure Jasmine was doing okay.

"You can take that veil off now."

"S-sorry. I'm just… not used to being among other mammals."

"You should know by now that we're all friends here. We aren't here to judge, only to help."

"I-I know. Sorry. Thank you."

"Nothing to be sorry about, and you're welcome. How are you holding up? Between the run in with the Reclaimers, and having to shove you into this tin can again, you must be experiencing quite the day."

The APC jostled a bit as I felt it move forward. I don't think Jasmine was prepared because the sudden jolt of moving caused her head to bump against the side of the vehicle. She awkwardly moved so that her hoof could reach as she rubbed it all while wincing a bit.

"To be honest, this has been one of my better days so far." She half chuckled as she said it.

"Once we get you to the Guardians, I promise things will get much better. It sounds like Chief Lazlo might have a way of fixing you up. They've done wonders fixing me up each time."

"E-each… time?" She stopped rubbing her head as she stared at me, as if not fully comprehending what I just said.

"Yeah, 'livi tends to get in trouble, and by trouble I mean nearly killed. More often than I'm willing to admit." Holly gave me an evil stare as she said it. That look sent a shiver down my spine.

"Anyways… she's right though. I'm usually either looking for trouble, or more often than not, trouble comes looking for me. I'm probably not the safest mammal to be around sometimes."

"And that's exactly why she needs good friends." Holly was still giving me a… look, but that slowly turned into a smile.

Sometimes I'm surprised that these mammals still want to stick by me. Everything that I had put them through, everything that hasn't even happened yet, most sane mammals would have turned tail and run. That must be what my mother meant all those years ago. I remember coming home in tears one day after school let out. This was before she started to home-school me. Most of the mammals, even the rabbits, were mean to me. My mother told me that sometimes it meant that they actually liked me, but was not sure how to express it. That day I had tried to make some friends, thinking that she was right and I just had to assert myself more so that they could open up to me. I was wrong. They didn't want to be my friend, they never wanted to be my friends. When the other rabbits tried to pick on me, the teacher scolded them, but when the other rodents did it? That same teacher, a white furred rat, simply ignored my pleas for help and let it go on. It wasn't anything physical, but sometimes words can hurt more than bruises.

That night my mother told me that someday I would find some mammals who genuinely wanted to be my friends. I asked her how I would know that it wasn't just another ruse that would lead me to getting hurt. She said that I'll know. A real friend will always be at your side. They would always listen to what you had to say, and when you got hurt, they would be right by your side helping to take that pain away from you.

She was right. I did find real friends, and now that I finally had them? I'll never let them go.

It was a couple hours between Hope and the Guardian HQ, and Nate was trying his best to keep off of the busy roads so that we didn't get ambushed by anything. The last thing we needed was for those damn Red-Necks to catch us trapped in a tin can. Nate assured me that this thing could withstand even a nuke going off near it, but that's not what I was afraid of. With the firepower that those Red-Necks had, they could probably just cook us alive in here. Against them, we were in a rolling oven.

"Shit!"

Nate's sudden outburst made my heart start to race. "We under attack?" It was the first thing that popped into my head.

"No. Core is overheating again. I think that strain from pushing it last time is still present. We need to stop for a bit to let it cool down. When we get to the Guardians, I may need to ask Mister Lazlo if he can spare some parts to fix this."

"Find us a safe place and we can let it cool down. How long you think we need?"

"Thirty minutes minimum. An hour would be best so that we can make it without stopping again."

"Ooh, how about there?" Mark sounded like he was about to burst into a song as he peered out of one of the APC's copula viewing ports.

I looked out of one of the other viewing ports and saw a small sign in the distance. It was still daytime, but it's neon lights still stood out. It was some kind of tavern. It proclaimed itself to have the best drinks this side of Darkwater, and it had in big bold letters the words: Live Music.

"You think it's safe?" I was concerned at stopping at a potentially dangerous place. I had wanted a simple abandoned building we could hide in.

"T-the Red-Necks usually don't send anyone this far out. The R.C.S.G. operate too far out here and they're the Red-Neck's largest threat." Jasmine never sounded happy talking about the Red-Necks, but I'm glad she didn't freeze up like Nate does talking about a Burrow.

"R.C.S.G.?" I don't think I ever heard of them. Why is it every time there's a discussion about the dangers of this world, I learn of new ones?

"Those are some nasty Guardians 'livi."

"Guardians? Like Lazlo's?"

"Not even close. From what the Chief told us one day, the Guardians split off into three factions, long before he was made their leader. You got those Corrupted Guardians, the ones with the plasma guns we encountered. They're just insane and want to bully everyone, not protect them. Then you got the Revolutionary Council of Steel Guardians. They take the Guardian creed and warp it. The Guardians stand for protecting the people no matter what, but the R.C.S.G., they want to protect the land, and don't care about its people. They hoard tech, weapons, basically anything that can make the world a 'better place'. They also believe that no one, other than themselves, should be allowed to own their own lands or items, that it was because of this ownership that the world collapsed. They make it sound like they're Zootopia's only chance for redemption, that under their rule everyone will be treated equally and everyone will be given equal land, food, and supplies just as long as they don't try to survive without them. Find a piece of fertile land and wanna build a farm? Nope, it's their property. Find a hidden weapon cache? They'll take it and give you nothing in return. Don't get fooled by them 'livi. They sound nice, but they'd rather tear that Pip-Boar from your arm and toss you aside than offer anything in return."

"Why haven't I heard of them before?"

"Between Lazlo's Guardians, and the Red-Necks, I don't think they've had a chance to build themselves enough to assert their power. Doesn't mean they're not dangerous. That friend-or-foe feature that Lazlo had activated in your Pip-Boar? Well Nate has it as well. All Guardian equipment, including Exo-Armor, has a tag in it. If you see what looks like a Guardian, but it's blip is red? They ain't on our side."

"That's good to know Holly. Hope we don't run into any of them."

"So… can we stop here?" Mark seemed a bit eager to want to stop.

They've helped me in more ways imaginable, so I figured it's my turn to give them what they want. "Sure Mark. We just need to stay on our guard. Jasmine, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"I should…" She rubbed her neck a bit. "I need to stretch, plus I don't want to be left alone… again."

I know she didn't mean to, but I started to feel bad for leaving her in the APC when we got to Hope. That veil, while making her stand out a bit, did help hide the fact that she was a Red-Neck, and the outfit that Nate threw together also hid her neck burns, so despite looking a bit… out of place, she didn't look like a Red-Neck.

"Okay, but if you start to feel uncomfortable, let me know and we can take you someplace else."

"I-I… will be fine."

"Onion, do you mind staying here? I don't want anyone else to try to mess with the APC, plus we need to make sure we don't get ambushed while inside."

"Of course Miss. I shall be ever vigilant."

"I wouldn't expect anything else."

I felt bad for Onion. Ever since I met Nate and the others, I haven't been spending nearly as much time with him. I hope he didn't feel left out. I'll have to make it up to him somehow. Once we get back to the bunker, I'll ask Nate if there's anything we can do to help him out. Maybe make a nice female counterpart. He may be a robot, but everyone needs companionship of some kind.

We all piled out of the APC and saw that Nate had parked it a little bit away from the tavern. It was probably a good idea to park it out this far, just so that no one spotted it. I don't see too many pre-war vehicles in operation around here, so it might attract the wrong attention.

We walked down the hill towards the tavern. I wasn't able to make out the name before, but now I was able to see a large piece of metal with the words: Bar Zooie painted on it. Wonder if the owner had as much of a bad time naming things as I did? I just hope we weren't walking into another place like The Dam.

Outside it was obvious that the place was nothing like The Dam. There were no mammals waiting to check over potential patrons. The door itself was slightly propped open. I heard a very lovely voice singing as I approached the door, but Mark's paw was on it before I could reach it.

"He hasn't heard live music in a while. Sometimes I think he loves music nearly as much as he does me." Holly seemed rather amused.

"Well, I admit the voice does sound quite nice. Maybe this is a good sign?"

As we all entered the tavern, it was apparent that it wasn't the most up-kept establishment. While it looked structurally sound, there was still paint peeling off the walls, a damaged chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and the stage looked like it was patched so many times, I couldn't tell what the original material was.

On the stage was the source of the singing. It was a rather cute looking feline, an ocelot I think, with light brown fur with dark stripes and spots muddled throughout the brown. She was wearing a dark pink dress that seemed to sparkle in what little light the stage was bathed in.

I looked around, mainly to see if there were any sketchy mammals here, but I only saw a moose cleaning glasses behind the bar, and two wolves sitting at a table near the singer. This place was pretty dead.

"Ah, welcome! Looks like you folks have tripled today's patronage, so what'll it be?"

"You always this… slow?"

"Unfortunately, yes. My brother isn't very good at selecting prime real estate, and now I'm kinda stuck with it."

"That's a shame. Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to have a few drinks. I'll take a…" I had thought about asking for a carrot juice, but after everything we've been through lately, I needed something a bit stronger. "… bourbon."

"Same here." Nate slid into the seat next to me at the bar, giving me a bit of a mischievous smile.

"Got any Rad! Cola?" Mark didn't take a seat, but rather his ears seemed to be concentrating on the singing.

"Got a few bottles. How about the ladies?"

"Uh, w-water, please." Jasmine kept trying to adjust her veil as if it was going to fall off any second.

"Got any carrot juice?" Holly sat down and yanked Mark to do the same, causing him to yip in surprise.

The moose got all of our drinks and we paid him. Surprisingly, he only asked for twelve caps all together. Not sure if he gave us a discount for some reason, or if he simply didn't charge much. I sipped on my drink, not wanting it to be gone too fast as I turned towards the singer on the stage. Her voice was amazing. I could tell that it was lulling Mark into a state of relaxation, and to be honest, I was starting to feel the same.

The song wasn't a happy one, but rather a sad one about losing someone close. It actually made me start to tear up a little as I thought about my own friends. I looked over each of them, seeing them all in a rather good mood. Between the singing, the drinks, and the fact that this place didn't feel dangerous, it was nice to be able to relax somewhere else.

"Well hello there beautiful."

I was so busy looking at my friends, that I didn't notice that the ocelot had moved her way over to me and was now standing only a foot or so away.

"Who, me?"

"See any other beautiful rabbits around here?"

"Um, excuse me? Sexy rabbit over here!" Holly seemed a bit taken back by the ocelot's comment.

The Ocelot seemed to ignore Holly's outburst. I was rather caught off guard myself. I think Nate was the only other one who called me beautiful. Was she trying to… hit on me? I looked over to Nate and he seemed a bit nervous. He moved closer to me, but he didn't seem scared, he seemed more confused than anything else.

"You're Olivia, aren't you?"

"How… how did you…"

She put her paw on my mouth to quiet me. "Word spreads rather quickly in these parts, and you my girl, have been the top subject of many a mammal's muzzle."

That made me very nervous. If someone I've never met before, working at a tavern in the middle of nowhere could recognize me this quickly, how long would it take for a Reclaimer to recognize Jasmine, or a Legionary to take notice of me or my friends? I slowly pushed her paw away.

"Sorry, but whatever you think you may have heard, you got the wrong girl."

"Tsk, tsk. Don't be that way my lovely rabbit."

"Letty, stop harassing our customers!" The moose seemed a bit aggravated.

"I'm not harassing her, am I sweetie?" She took out a small item from a bag that I never remembered seeing her have. I felt myself tense a bit, thinking that maybe she had a weapon, but then the ocelot took the object and simply rubbed it over her lips, rather seductively. "My lips are rather parched."

"W-well, you work at a bar, so…"

"Not what I was talking about."

She moved it, pursing her lips. What was she about to… I suddenly felt myself falling to the ground as Nate pushed me out of the way, and placed himself between me and her. The ocelot had her eyes closed and didn't seem to have noticed the sudden displacement before she… kissed Nate… I was starting to feel something boil within me. Hate? Anger? …fear?

She opened her eyes and then jumped back. "You! You're not… why did you… No. No."

I was just about to ask what the hell was going on when Nate suddenly grabbed his head. He tried to move but his foot got caught on one of the stools and he collapsed. I ran over to Nate who wouldn't stop holding his head.

"Nate! What's wrong?" I turned towards the ocelot. "What the fuck did you do to him!"

"I… he…" She looked at the object in her paw and then threw it to the ground.

Mark and Holly were now with me, Mark had jumped into medic mode as he tried to figure out what was going on. I saw foam starting to form at his mouth as he started to scramble, as if he was trying to run away. Then he stopped and his eyes widened as he started to laugh. It wasn't a normal laugh, it… scared me.

"Nate? Nate, what's wrong?"

He didn't speak, he just kept quietly laughing as he tried to get up. Mark and I tried to keep him on the ground, but Nate shoved Mark aside and broke through my grasp on him, all the while his laughing started to sound much more… sinister. He took a look at the ocelot and jumped at her, claws extended and mouth wide open.

"No! I'm sorry, I… help!" She was panicking. I could tell that there was real fear going through her. I honestly don't think she expected… whatever this was.

I lunged and grappled Nate, trying to pull him back to the ground. "Nate! It's me, please, you… you're not yourself. Calm down!"

The ocelot was cowering in a corner when I finally was able to stop Nate's advances on her. His laughing died down, but I could tell he was still tense, he was still not himself. I found myself gripping him, trying to make sure he didn't move, and didn't hurt anyone. I pressed my face into his back and felt tears start to leave me.

"Nate, please. I don't know what's going on, but this isn't you. P-please, come back…"

"O-ol-l…"

"Yes, I'm here."

Suddenly Nate dropped to his knees, but I kept holding him. I wouldn't let him go until he was better. Holly told me Nate snapped when I was taken, was this a glimpse into what happened? If so, I never wanted to see him like this ever again. Mark rushed over with a large needle in his paw and jabbed Nate with it. Moments later I felt his body go limp in my arms.

"It's just a sedative. What just happened?"

We all looked at the ocelot in the corner as she was still looking scared out of her mind.

"I-I'm sorry."

The ocelot, Letty Oswald, told us everything. She said that the lipstick she had used was supposed to be some kind of love potion, that whoever she kissed with it would fall madly in love with her. I asked why she wanted to do such a thing, and she responded, seemly ashamed of it, that she has always been attracted to strong female prey, and that the moment she heard about my 'adventures' she had to make me hers.

"Two things. First of all, you don't just go forcing someone to love you, it doesn't work that way. Secondly, you almost killed the mammal I love. If something happened to him because of you, let's just say it'll take more than a Steel Guardian to hold me back."

"I wasn't trying to kill… anyone… I just thought…"

"Olivia, come here." Mark was signaling me over to where he was looking over Nate.

"Holly, make sure she doesn't leave this spot."

"No problem 'livi. So, who's the prettier bunny?"

I moved over to where Mark had Nate resting. Nate was still resting on the floor, but thankfully the bar owner was kind enough to grab some pillows from the back to make Nate more comfortable. Mark was holding up the lipstick that Letty had used.

"I found out what happened. This lipstick has traces of Midnicampum holicithias. Not a very high dose, but enough to temporarily cause a victim to go… savage."

"Midcapawhosit? Can you use real words please? And what do you mean, go savage?"

"Night Howlers. According to some of my history books, these flowers were used to nearly overthrow Zootopia's predator/prey balance. They basically cause anyone effected by them to revert into a primal state. Walking on all fours, the inability to talk, the natural urges of our ancestors taking control. Basically they go savage."

"But Nate wasn't acting like that. He was on two legs, and he was… laughing…"

"You and I both know he ain't right in the head. With such a small dosage, and his… issues, I think it manifested itself in a different way. If you weren't here to snap him out of it long enough for me to sedate him…"

Nate nearly injured Mark the way he tossed him back when we were trying to hold him down. His own brother wasn't able to get through to him, but I was? If his own family wasn't able to get through to him and I wasn't there, and he hurt them… I can't even imagine what he would do.

"O-Oliv-via?" Nate's eyes opened as he started to wake up from the induced slumber.

"I'm here, we're all fine, you're fine."

"W-what happened? W-why does my head hurt…"

"I got some pain meds for you. Here."

Mark handed him a couple pills and a glass of water. Nate chugged it down and handed his brother the glass back. He tried to get up, but then laid back down, putting a paw to his head. "Oh, I feel dizzy."

"Rest, take as long as you need. I'll be here." I gave him a quick kiss. His breath stunk and there was a bit of saliva left over from the foaming, but I didn't care.

"He'll be fine. You might wanna go check on Holly though, make sure she doesn't kill the cat."

"Yeah, good idea Mark. Let me know when he's able to move on his own. Don't worry Nate, I'll be close by."

I was not happy with this Letty person. If things had accelerated at a faster pace, this would have turned bloody. Part of me just wanted to shoot her for putting us, me, Nate, through all of this, but that was the part I needed to work on, the part of me that I had to learn to say no to. That didn't mean I couldn't punish her.

"I-Is he o-okay?"

"He'll be fine. Now, what should I do with you? You nearly killed my boyfriend, so the way I see it, there are two options. The first one," I slowly took my gun out. I saw the look on Holly that silently told me not to do this. "Is that I just put a bullet between your eyes and be done with it." I ejected the magazine before racking the slide to eject the remaining round, placing all of them on the counter. The look of horror on Letty's face was payment enough. "But I'm trying not to choose option one as often, so we're going with the second one."

"A-and that would b-be?"

"You apologize. To me, and especially to Nate."

"Is t-that… all?"

"Don't be daft. You think I'd let you off that easily? You'll also tell me who sold that lipstick to you. I wanna make sure that they don't do anything like this again."

"I… don't know. I was on stage singing one day and I happened to start chatting with a nice young deer. I got to talking about how I was a failure at finding someone, and she gave me this, saying that one day a rabbit will come into my life. Not too long after that I heard about your adventures and thought that fate had finally given me what I needed. I didn't know it… would…"

It almost sounded like someone was using her to target… me? Who would want to… no, bad question. There are plenty of mammals who want to see me dead, or worse. I think I've made more enemies than friends in the wasteland. What was really bothering me, was that someone thought giving tainted lipstick to a singer in a tavern out in the middle of nowhere would do any good. There had to be more to this than that.

"Can you remember a name, or any identifiable markings?"

"No, I'm sorry, I can't." Letty's answer seemed genuine enough. I don't know how I could tell, but it just felt genuine. Maybe Mayor Swift has finally rubbed off on me.

Wait a second… "We need to get a message to Mayor Swift, if something like this happened here, it might happen elsewhere, and apparently everyone knows the connection between me and Hope."

"Sorry to interject, but did you say Hope? As in the town of Hope?" The bartender poked his head over the counter, his large antlers clinking against the hanging glasses.

"Yeah, why?"

"Have a place in Hope. Nyte Lyfe. Been closed ever since those Berserk-Kings tried to take over. Wait a second, you're Olivia Springs, aren't you?"

"Well, since apparently everyone knows me, yes, I am."

"I should thank you. Been wanting to return and open the place back up. Petunia might have some good food, but there ain't a decent drop of booze anywhere in that town. Problem is, my cheapskate brother fled the area to go on another one of his foolish treasure hunts, and stupid me promised to look after this place until he gets back. Tell me, what were you planning on doing to my singer?"

"Well, nothing bad I promise you. Just, well." I honestly didn't know what to do. I wanted her to be responsible for what she did, but I didn't want to ask for money, and I can already tell that she was beating herself up over what happened, so I highly doubt she would do something like that again. Gah! I was just so used to simply shooting someone that I have no idea what to do.

"May I suggest a punishment?"

"Um, sure?"

"Letty Oswald, you are a wonderful singer, but I'm afraid that your social acuity is a bit on the lacking side." He looked at me, "I suggest this, she goes to Hope and delivers that message of yours to Mayor Swift, and then re-opens Nyte Lyfe."

"Wait, how does giving a business to someone account for a punishment?"

"Oh I ain't giving it to her. She owes you, and she owes me." He looked back at Letty, a smile on his face. Hers was simply a look of shock and disbelief. "You know how to attract patrons, and you can mix drinks. You'll reopen it, send me fifty percent of the profits, donate twenty five of the remainder to Hope, and use the rest for supplies. You will not be getting paid, you will not be allowed to leave town until I'm able to return to take over, and you will not tarnish my good name. I will be sending a message informing Swift of all of this, so don't think you can just do what you please."

"I-I… I've never run my own establishment…"

"Remember, it ain't yours, it's mine, but I'm sure you'll do good. How's them apples Miss Springs?"

From the look on Letty's face, I think it was more than enough of a punishment.

"Well, that sounds fair. I think. What do you think guys?"

"That's… something, I guess?" Holly sounded a bit confused by the turn of events.

Mark was walking up with Nate supported on his shoulder.

"Anyone get shot?"

"Mark! I don't go around just shooting people… anymore…"

"Why do I feel so… bad?" Nate sounded groggy, but he was able to nearly walk on his own. Mark helped him onto one of the stools as the bartender slid a tall glass of what smelt like bourbon at him.

"On the house. That reminds me, Letty? Anytime any of these mammals visit Nyte Lyfe? Never charge them. I think they deserve that much."

"Thank you, Mr?"

"Jeremy Bucksworth. Just please, don't drink me out of house and home."

"Depending on how our day went at the time, I make no promises." I smiled as I shook his hoof. "Alright, the APC should be cooled down by now, I say we hit the road so we can get there before it gets dark."

After Nate was finished with his drink, I helped him back to the APC. Nate eventually was able to walk on his own, but then stopped for a moment and looked at me, the look of tears starting to form at his eyes.

"W-what did… what did I… do?"

I had hoped that this entire event had been lost to him, that he wouldn't remember any of it. I was wrong. He was starting to remember, but before he could say anything I wrapped my arms around him.

"Everything is alright now. No one got hurt, and we're together."

He hugged me tighter as I felt his tears start to fall upon my head. I kissed him and did my best to comfort him as we entered into the APC. This was going to be a long ride to the Guardians.

Fallout: Zootopia After Show

Featuring:

'Stripes in the Morning'

[Stripes]

"Good morning Zootopian Wasteland! Today was going to be a solo job by Max, however he has gotten a little over his head with inventorying our stuff that he had no time to do his own interview. I kept telling him I would help, but he kept saying something about things going missing when I am in charge of it. I have no idea what he is talking about, those little figurines were just collecting dust. How was I supposed to know he was trying to complete a set?

"Anywho, since I was completely unprepared, I kept asking myself, what is something that I should talk about? Then a little prairie dog gave me an idea. I was going to save this for later, because I thought there would be potential spoilers, but after giving it a good long thought I realized, I don't think there will be any. So, without further ado, I give you the subject of today's After Show. The Legionaries.

"So far you know them by reputation and actions alone, but probably have been wondering where these highly trained, highly dangerous mercenaries came from? Well, they are much older than even the Steel Guardians. You see, back before even the war that ended the world was a glimmer in the eyes of who caused it, there was always tension between mammals. Predator versus prey, species versus species, even entire countries against others. For as far as historians can go, there has always been war and conflict. Because of this, the military has been in existence for a long time, and when you have military, you have super secret branches of them. You know the kind, the 'if the shit hits the fan you and your whole team will be thrown under the bus and all existence wiped off of the face of the planet' type of team. They were known simply as H.O.R.N. The acronym is not really about who they are, but rather how they operate. It stands for Hunt, Observe, React, and Neutralize.

"The H.O.R.N. team was called in not only as a secret strike force, but also to reconnoiter highly dangerous areas that normal recon teams would not be allowed to set paw in, such as behind enemy lines or in foreign countries. They were masters of stealth, even long before Stealth-Boys were created, and knew over a hundred and one ways to kill a mammal with a spoon. Why they were armed with spoons, I have no idea. Anyways, they were the best at what they did, receiving the best training from across the world, had access to the best and most modern weapons and technologies known to mammal, and were given the ability to finish their mission any way they could. If they had to kill a hundred mammals just to take out one foreign dictator? They could, but their affiliations would never be known and the governments who used them would just cover the whole thing up, or take credit themselves. If all of this sounds familiar, then you must be a Jack Savage fan. The Jack Savage novels were actually written by an ex-H.O.R.N. solider. He was forbidden from talking about what he did, but you can't do what you did and see what you have seen without telling someone, so he took many of his experiences and put it into a novel. Yes, those who control H.O.R.N. have realized what he has done, but have not taken action since everyone believes it is simply an act of fantasy.

"Now, you might ask, 'did you say governments?'. Yes, yes I did. H.O.R.N. was not simple a single nation military group. They were made up of species from all over the world, unofficially backed by multiple governments. They were not technically a mercenary group, but they might as well have been, the only thing that separated them from a mercenary group was who they got their paychecks from. Despite all of that, they were wholly good, governed by group of representatives from most of the allied nations who simply wanted to make the world a better place.

"So, how did they go from a mostly beneficial military group to the vicious mercs we have all come to know? Well, when the first bomb went off within Zootopia, they were asked to investigate it, to see if they can find out who did it. Yes, many other countries already were investigating the rumors of war ever since they popped up, but it was never enough to send in H.O.R.N. until it ended up being too late.

"When the team arrived, they already bore witness to the destruction that was wrought throughout the once noble city. They saw how it drove mammals mad, how the radiation was starting to take their toll on the populace. They spent two months slowly tracking down anything that could lead them to who ever was responsible for this atrocious act. Then, out of the blue, they got an order from their base to end all activities, that H.O.R.N. was being dissolved. There was no reason, and when they tried to contact their superiors, they were un able to. No one knows what happened, and why their group was suddenly dismantled without explanation. They also never learned that their base, located within the arctic isle of Svalbear, got hit with a nuke within days of the termination of all H.O.R.N. members. Coincidence? I think not.

"Sure, there are still other H.O.R.N. teams scattered around the planet, whom all got the same message, but I have no idea what became of them, the team sent to Zootopia, however, did not take this lightly. Not only did they have nowhere to go, and nothing to do, but their paychecks were no longer being received, not that a formal banking system was in place anymore. They felt trapped within this desolate city. So, what did they do? The only thing they knew. They became a hired gun.

"At first they only accepted jobs that came from innocents trying to recover lost items or mammals, or those who wanted protection from the more… vile survivors of the bombs. However, that was not doing much to fill their pockets, and many were getting bored. So they started to take harder, and more… questionable jobs. Kill this person, steal this item, and so on. It was about a year after they started to do this that they officially changed their named from H.O.R.N. to the Legionaries to make them stand out more. And boy did they stand out. After the first decade, they had not only amassed a small fortune, but also increased their ranks ten-fold. The small warehouse that they were working out of was not cutting it anymore, so they sent teams out to find a bigger and better place for them to operate out of. That's when they found the abandoned ruins of the Zootopia Penal Institution, a high-security prison located on a small island to the south of Savannah Central.

"It was perfect. Highly defensible, surrounded on all sides by radioactive waters that would prevent most sea mounted intrusions, and a single bridge connecting to the mainland that could be easily patrolled. The only problem with it was the massive amount of savage ghouls located within it. You see, a nuke detonated off the shore of it. While the prison was built well enough to withstand the shock-wave, all the prisoners and even some of the staff were bathed in radiation. Most died, but those that didn't became ghoulified. Sure, there might have been some non-savage ones there, but the Legionaries killed them all, so no one really knows.

"It took them nearly a year of eliminating the ghoul populace, but once they did, they had one of the best places for a fortress they could hope for. Over the next few decades, they became more and more ruthless. They still took any job as long as it paid, but they gave themselves less and less restrictions. You know that rumor that they would kill babies if paid to? That was true. It was quite a disgusting act really, and one that basically cemented their infamy. I would rather not retell that, but I am sure some of you are wanting to know, so here it goes.

"You see, about, oh, fifty or so years ago, there was a small community of mammals. They were a lot like Hope really, where they didn't care about what species you were, as long as you were kind and contributed your share to the community. Hell, I bet anything they would take in a Red-Neck as long as they promised not to hurt anyone who lived there. They were that nice. They also were located within one of the few radiation free zones, and while the ground was not fertile enough to do much farming, all the babies they were producing were nearly as healthy as a Burrow-Dweller. No one really knows why or how that area was so special, and no one would.

"The Slave Prince at that time had a very vested interest in that place, wanting that community to basically produce healthy slaves for him to raise and sell at a higher price. Of course the mammals there would not have that and did everything they could to fight off the Slave Prince, no matter how much money he offered. This community wasn't weak either, they had their own established militia, and even established a treaty with the Steel Guardians to allow patrols to rest there in return for protection. After everything, the Slave Prince was growing desperate, so desperate that he called upon the Legionaries. The first team was defeated by a Guardian patrol who had just stopped there to rest before returning to base, so the Slave Prince tripled the caps to simply put an end to this community once and for all. He felt that if he couldn't have these mammals for himself, they did not deserve to live.

"The Legionaries were told to eliminate them all, no matter what. So they did. That place was so prolific that they had a dedicated nursery, who at the time, had nearly four dozen babies of various species, along with a dozen dedicated nursing mothers. The Legionaries killed everyone there without hesitation. Every adult, child, and baby. Only one made it out alive, and to this day many think that the only reason she survived was to spread the word that the Legionaries will do anything if paid to do it. She told the story of how none of them even flinched when they put a bullet into every infant. After that day they became more notorious than any raider group, other than the Red-Necks. The Red-Necks would have simply burned them all alive. If anything, the Legionaries were so quick and efficient, I doubt anyone even felt a thing, other than terror.

"So, that's all the time I have today. I hope this shows you how truly vile the Legionaries can be. Let's just hope that Olivia gets to the bottom of their involvement before who ever hired them decides to pay them enough to cause the Legionaries to do something so extreme that even their own will suffer, because when the caps flow, insanity has no bounds."