Snowflake in the Sand

Chapter 21

"Do you like the sight of your own blood?!" a fiend screamed at the top of his lungs as he lunged towards Courier Six with a ripper in hand. Six merely grunted as the weapon removed some of his skin, he turned around and smashed his fist against the head of the fiend a small smile as the head exploded in a shower of gore.

"Good lord, how strong are you?" the wounded ranger said as he fought off some of the fiends that remained. "Strong enough to do that and stop fucking gripping my shotgun so hard, I just fixed it" Six complained as he heard the weapon's wood make a small noice as the ranger reloaded.

"I spent weeks trapped in this hellhole, fuck the fiends and fuck your weapon too… but I promise I will pay for the repairs" the ranger said as a smile made its way onto his lips. Six nodded at the man and continued his assault, Motor Runner was dead and they had been the ones stupid enough to let him get close enough to feed him a 40mm grenade straight to his face, the only bad thing is that he broke the chainsaw he had wanted.

"I'm going to fix it later" he mumbled to himself as he slammed his fist against a fiend pushing him back enough to use Maria on him, the fiend crumbled to the ground and the PipBoy went quiet as the last of the fiends on Vault 3 died and the NCR was free of another enemy. Six nodded at his handy work and offered a stimpak at the wounded ranger "Here, I have some to spare and I doubt you could walk all the way back to McCarran on that wounded leg of yours"

"I appreciate it, but they have taken prisioners we must…"

Six raised removed his helmet and gave the ranger a smile "They have already left, on the chaos of our glorious escape they managed to leave the vault" Ranger Bryce nodded as he let out a sigh of relief as he injected himself. "The fiends have tormented the NCR from the very first moment they saw us, but without their leaders they are nothing more than small time raiders you have done us more than a favor, you might have won us time and troops to finally push into legion territory" Ranger Bryce commented as they walked towards the exit.

Six hummed in agreement as he stabilized himself with the walls of the Vault as the drugs he had consumed faded, psycho, jett and buff-out where so easy to find in this vault that he had almost over dosed, but the fiends had paid dearly for it. Their torn limbs littered the halls to the exit and the sights did not get prettier once they left the vault, the ranger nodded as he saw the fiends massacred on the ruins of the place they called home.

"This does bring a smile to my face you know, I had to sneak inside because there were so many of them, how the fuck did you get to the army of junkies"

Six felt a sharp pain on what he assumed was his hearth and his vision blurred somewhat but he recovered in time to answer "I had to use almost all my ammo on these jerks but I also had some help" Six said as he waved towards and approaching figure. Veronica waved back enthusiastically even if her power fist was covered in blood.

"Damn, so I guess you wouldn't mind if I gave some ammo when we get back to camp" Ranger Bryce commented making Six chuckle "I wouldn't mind, but I didn't come here because I wanted to get paid, I did it because you're right the NCR needs to be ready for the Legion" Six commented.

Veronica walked up to them and gave Six a wide smile "I found it, whenever you're ready we can go… but man you better pack a machete and a flamer" the small woman said.

"Something I should be worried about?" the ranger asked, neither Six nor Veronica answered, the courier leaned against a wall and looked around "Not all of them are dead, some are probably still crawling in these ruins, I need a favor Ranger…tell Colonel Hsu that the fiends leadership is no more, I will get back to him once the last of the stragglers are dealt with"

The Ranger nodded and tossed him his shotgun back "I have my knife" was all he said as he departed, Six waited for a moment before he let a coughing fit take him, his breathing was a little ragged but he would manage "Man, that fiend with the supersledge really messed you up huh, you sure he didn't puncture any lungs?" Veronica asked him as she patted his back.

"I… no he just really messed up my ribs, this little coughing fit is courtesy of some other fiend with a grenade I inhaled some of that" Six looked at his PipBoy and grinned "Man I can't believe we really did wipe out the fiends, now Vegas can breathe a little easier"

Veronica stretched her back letting out a satisfied sigh "Just another day for little ol Veronica from the brotherhood…. and well whatever we call your organization" Six snorted as he recalled the new directive Winter and him had come up with.

"I was thinking something cool like the New Vegas action team, but Winter really wants a stupid name like Special Operatives of New Vegas, it's acronym would SPOONV. I don't want the organization I co-founded to sound like a child trying to say the word spoon" Six grumbled as Veronica giggled. But names aside, he liked the idea of running a small team that tried to stabilize the region. He recalled the conversation he had with Winter in one of the abandoned hangars of McCarran:

"Six, I have a question what wins a war?" Winter said as she wrote the word war in a chalkboard she had "borrowed". Six sat in a small desk near her, he thought for a moment but then snapped his fingers "Resources and willingness to use it, whoever has the most to throw at the enemy, if done strategically, will eventually weaken the other enough to deliver a killing blow"

Winter smiled "Good, there's more obviously but that would be the basics of what our new operation needs to do, get more resources for the NCR against the Legion. Resources can vary but in my experience men and women willing to fight for you are the most valuable resource of them all. The question here is, how can we help with more people"

Six hummed as he stood up and ask for chalk, Winter obliged as she stood next to him as he started to do some drawings. "So I was thinking, I think the problem with the NCR is that it bites almost every threat that comes close to it so they are not fighting one war; they are fighting one war and many small battles. Fiends, Khans and even the Brother Hood of steel not to mention antagonizing every small settlement and group of raiders they come across. That's why even the followers are not willing to work with them, this is not their home but boy oh boy do the NCR act like it"

Winter hummed in agreement, Six finished up his drawings making her snort there was a soldier boy in the middle surrounded by many caricatures of the enemies and factions of the Mojave wasteland. "So here's what I am thinking, the Boomers we can already cross them off the list the NCR didn't spare any men to do anything with the boomers, but there are more immediate threats that can be… resolved more easily"

Six moved his fingers towards the caricature of the fiends, complete with little needle on their arm "They have harassed the NCR the longest and Caesar knows this, there is a rumor that under Caesar's influence the great Khans supply the fiends with even more chems so they can keep on trucking"

Winter narrowed her eyes "Makes sense, both the legion and the khans would benefit from bothering the NCR, the fiends to steal and the khans… well they have their history" Six snorted as he vaguely remembered the history, real bloody business. The NCR had really messed that one up from what he understood but there was no time to think about it now.

"The Khans are going to be complicated, but the fiends are hated by almost everyone so there is no issue erasing them off the map" Six said as he drew a big X over the drawing. Winter nodded "Why are the followers of the apocalypse here?"

Six grinned "The NCR is not very famous here, but not every person HATES them you know. There's a tolerance here and it can be changed to an alliance if we create a gap, the only bad thing is that we're not from the followers or the other small factions that might help bridge that gap"

Winter hummed in agreement as she stared at the board the back at Six "Well why don't we incorporate more people into these hypothetical team, I think a doctor from the followers could act as a bridge between them and the NCR"

Six gave a nod "Yeah that makes sense, who do you think would be willing to join us?" Winter crossed her arms and looked to the ceiling for inspiration, but there was too much webs and dust, maybe there was a giant cockroach there too.

Winter shook her head and turned to Six who was doodling some evil horns on Caesar's figure 'He can be cute sometimes' a small smile made its way onto her lips and this time she did not hide the small blush that came to her face.

"Ah so this is what it feels like" Winter said softly.

Six gave her a look as he finished his doodle "Huh?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking that it should be someone who won't be that missed with the followers. Someone who is more into research than medical work, that way we won't affect their efforts on Freeside" Winter said as she wrote down that idea on her PipBoy.

Six on the other hand had drawn to other people "Well I want to recruit for this endeavor Veronica, you remember her right? She was in the 188 Trading Post last time we saw her… let's say that she has some interesting "family" and she could help us a lot for future projects" Winter closed her eyes and nodded. She remembered the girl faintly, she remembered she had hit on her a little.

"And the other one Six?" at this the courier gave a wide smile "Boone, my sniper buddy. He used to be NCR, but he married and left the army now he is wandering out there making the life of the legion a little harder. We could really use someone who has seen how the NCR works and believes in them but no longer has any ties" the specialist nodded.

"You can recruit whoever you think would be best Six… just please make sure they are not sketchy or allied with the Legion first"

At this the courier shook his head "Nah, I don't think it would be worth it, we need a small team and not everyone will make the bill, well that I don't think I know anyone else"

Winter chuckled "We are missing someone from the caravans I think but I always found traders to be more… opportunistic lest say. I saw some traders on legion territory and then a couple of days later I saw them on Vegas, maybe there is someone with a little integrity but for now I think it would be best if you take care of the fiends while I scout the crimson caravan and the followers, I suggest speaking to the colonel on the way out, one of their own went missing on Fiend territory"

With their new plan all laid out Six made a mental note to stop by the trading post to try to hire Veronica and stock up on ammo, as for Boone he guessed he would have to go to Novac and sniff around there. But one thing was for sure the Fiends would not live another day.

"Wait what are we calling ourselves?" Six asked as Winter stopped in her tracks and gave him a wide eye look "I… I dint think that far"

"I don't know I would like to be part of the spoons" Veronica commented as Six worked with his PipBoy, he put on the map the location of another vault. A side project of his, working on rumors and notes he found on his travels. Violet had one of a peculiar vault and Veronica only confirmed his suspicion.

"Vault 22, I wonder what happened in this one" Six commented as he walked towards McCarran Veronica in tow "Yeah, I saw the entrance just like the scribes said but there was way too much vegetation to properly enter but maybe I'm glad I couldn't enter, I got this… creepy vibe you know. I felt as if the plants where watching me" Veronica shuddered.

Their walk back was spent with the two tossing theories back and forth, on what could be in the vault. Veronica leaned in more to what the scribes of the brother hood believed that Vault 22 contained the secrets to a new way to cultivate crops and plants, basically something that would allow them to create food almost out of thin air while Six believed that the plants where just a front and that there was something sinister inside like a virus.

"Wow, feels good talking with someone else who likes vaults. People at home like them but they are a lot more mean about the whole thing" Veronica commented as she let out a sad sigh.

"Everything ok?" Six commented making Veronica shrug her shoulders "No, I just think that the Brotherhood is making some mistakes and it has for some time. I know that to many they are this big and scary power armor wearing unstoppable zealots, but to me they are my family and they are going to die, we lost to the NCR at Helios One and they are not even that much of a threat, maybe elder Elijah was right and we had to use all of our technology"

Six raised an eyebrow "Elder Elijah?"

Veronica grimaced and stopped walking, Six stopped in his tracks too waiting for her to find the words "Elijah was our… leader let's say, he took care of me when my parents died so I looked up to him as if he was my grandpa, but he really was a weird guy you know. Always looking into old technology and ways to wipe out all our enemies, he fought with our leadership, Elijah did not understand why we didn't go all out and often rambled to me on what we could sue, that's how I know about Vault 22, but in his lasts days he pushed me back. Told me to stay hidden that something big was coming and that he was going to wipe the slate clean"

"Helios One I assume, there was a dormant super weapon on there… we deactivated it" Six said trying to judge more of Veronica's character and to his surprise she nodded "Good, the NCR would not know what to do with so much power… and maybe elder Elijah would not have either, he survived I know he did. He escaped towards the last of his obsessions, the Sierra Madre"

Six's eyes widened but before he could say anything Veronica resumed walking "Sorry, I didn't want to bore you with my life I think it would be best if we head back to base, by the way can we change headquarters? I don't like the idea of the NCR breathing down our necks even if we are helping them"

"We are helping them… short term" Six said as he flashed her a grin as McCarran came to view, Veronica gave him a nod and small smile and pulled up her hood a little bit, Six waved at the guards who gave him a look.

"You need a doctor sir?" the guards asked but Six shook his head and pulled out the new chainsaw he had acquired "Nah, it was Motor Runner's blood, I thought Ranger would have informed you"

The guards shared a look "He passed out close to the entrance, he is being treated as we speak"

Six stashed away his new weapon feeling a little awkward "Huh, man he really was put through it on the vault. Have you seen Winter around here, she's around my height and wears the whitest outfit you would ever see, I need to talk to her"

One of the guards gave him a nod "She's currently speaking with Colonel Hsu, feel free to give the colonel the good news"

And with that they were let through, Veronica got some stares as she was covered head to toe in what six could only describe as a sack of potatoes but it suited her in a way, it made her look plain when in reality the girl could punch him through a concrete wall. The power armored wearing guards let him through but asked Veronica to stay outside, Six pointed at some chairs nearby and mouthed a 'sorry'. Inside the office the voice of the colonel could be heard "… the spy is concerning, but we also need to get information out of the prisoner. I don't have the men to spare on errands not with Motor Runner throwing his pack of maniacs at us; the supplies are going to have to wait"

"What was that about Motor Runner?" Six said as he made his presence known, Winter gave him a half glare "Can't you knock?"

"Forgive me I was in a hurry, Colonel I have taken down Motor Runner and most of his gang of manias, Vault 3 is no more" the colonel let out a sigh "While I trust you because of what you have done for the NCR I will further proof than your word" Six gave him a nod. "Sure I expected that; I have the word of a ranger who is on the med bay and I have this"

The broken chainsaw had the markings of the fiends, Hsu knew the weapon it had been described to him so many times it was if he had seen before. "Well, then the NCR is in your debt. This is a monumental service, the fiends have stalled our progress now we can finally send some men to reinforce camp Forlorn Hope, another place we could use your help with"

Hsu let out a sigh as he turned towards Winter "But I cannot spare any people to help the crimson caravan, we need to seize any assets that the fiends left behind and secure those positions, the great Khans could take over"

Winter frowned but nodded "I understand Colonel Hsu, I hope you manage to stabilize this region. I hope to see you again" she almost saluted out of habit as she exited with Six giving a wave towards the colonel. As she Winter moved towards the labs where a familiar face was arguing with the guards.

"Is that Doctor Arcade?" Six said as the man in question walked off and spotted Winter as she walked towards "Ah good, you're here, can you tell THIS MORONS! That I am trying to help, I just need access to the labs so that I can…"

Winter raised her hand and gave him an apologetically smile "I understand, don't worry we will get there. Gentlemen this people are with me, we are not here to steal anything we just want to deliever an invoice and see if this part of the military requires aid, I'm sure Hsu informed you of us"

"Ah I see, sorry for stopping you then doctor. We were just informed that we had to let "Winters team" move around the base" the guard said as Six gave Winter a look, Winter for her part blushed a little "I… I said we had no official name yet, so Hsu could call us what he liked"

"Better than spoons" Veronica said earning a chuckle from Six, who thanked the guards and walked in. the lab was surprisingly empty "Hello, we brought an invoice" Six called out but there was no answer until a woman stepped out from a small part of the lab.

"Hi! You're not… here for mercenary work right?" the woman said almost on edge, but Six shook his head "No, we're here just to deliver an invoice, you looking for help?"

The woman shook her head "no, no I was just curious… doctor Hildern has been hiring some people and I was just wondering… no you know what it doesn't matter" the woman said. Winter raised an eyebrow at the interaction but Six saw blood on the water "Huh, say that's a cute accent you got there! I don't think I have heard it before"

"Oh I… it's because I was raised on the farm with my pappy, I know I know how did a country bumpkin get a job at the Office of Science and Industry? Well I'm just going to say that I had to work hard for this station"

Six chuckled "Don't I know that, but you keep on being you; it gives you quite an edge over those other boring scientist" a wink made the woman cover her face but a giggle did escape her lips.

"Thank you! Oh right the invoice you should give it to Doctor Hildern his office is right around here I will guide you, my name is Angela by the way, Angela Williams"

Arcade snorted next to Winter who was looking the exchange with a small frown "Does he realize that we have the invoice right?"

Winter only let out a sigh as she followed quietly behind the Courier, Veronica elbowed Arcade "Ten caps that she smacks him"

As doctor Williams left Winter waited for a moment before she smacked Six on the back of the head, Veronica extended her hand as Arcade scoffed but gave over the caps. "Aw, no need to be jealous Winter I just learned something very interesting, would you mind giving me the invoice I have an idea"

Winter let out a sigh "Stop manipulating people to get information, is going to become a bad habit" Six gave her a nod as he knocked on the door.

The unrelenting sun of the dessert seemed to be more and more familiar each day passed; Winter had almost forgotten how it felt to be in cold environments but the one thing that she really would never get accustomed to was walking. It was insane how much time was wasted on walking, she would never ever complain about the velocity of the bulkheads.

"You know I can't even blame Veronica and Arcade for sitting this one out" she commented to Six as they finally arrived at the Mojave Outpost, the courier gave her a nod "Yeah, but at least they didn't just stay home doing nothing. Do you think they will find a new base for us?"

"Maybe, there is many abandoned places that we could repurpose" Winter said as the caravan they were guarding was stopped by the NCR guards. The guards frowned at them "You know that no caravan can come here right?" the tired guard said but a small letter from the crimson Caravan and the seal from the NCR made the guards relent. Six let out a small whistle as the caravan hands started to unpack everything "Look at that a small scribble from Hsu really moves everything huh?"

"Not just him Six, McLafferty's name is also on this paper. They need the supplies and letters to reach New California, it would seem that the war effort is not taken as seriously as it should be" Winter commented, Six grimaced at the mention of the New California "Doesn't surprise me, I don't know why but I really don't like that place. Rubs me the wrong way" Winter gave him a sideways glance as she tried to look for something on his green eyes akin to a memory but in Six only saw raw instinct.

There was little she could do to help him, but there was hope that maybe there was one day that he would remember more of his life. Six grumbled that he was going for a drink as the headaches started to set in, that was the main concern for both of them. The bullets might have not killed him on Good springs but there was a chance that it would kill him later on, but now was not the time to think about that she could still save him.

Winter filled out the paperwork needed, but when she left the office she noticed how Six was waiting outside with someone else a very sour looking woman who was half listening to what the Courier Six had to say "… then they shot me, imagine that they shot the messenger"

"Right, that does not make want to travel with you. In fact I actually think I'm going to go back to my drink"

Six gave her shrug "Sure, spend all your new caps on booze that's a wise business decision Cass" the red headed woman glared for a moment before she gave him a grin "You know what Mr. Courier Six, fuck yeah it's a good decision but it would be for the road and you're going to have to listen to my drunk ass the entire walk back to New Vegas or wherever the fuck you have your main base"

Winter coughed into her fist and both of them turned to look at her, Six gave her a grin while Cass gawked a little bit "You know what I said about not wanting a threesome, maybe I changed my mind"

"Please hush she is your boss now you know I might have co founded it, but I act more solo, is part of my charm" Six said as he passed his fingers through his hair, Winter was still a bit stunned on how to respond to the threesome comment.

"Please, you're lucky that you are kind of handsome because your personality is ass" Cass said as she extended her hand towards Winter "Rose of Sharon Cassidy, but you can call me Cass. Your boyfriend here just helped the crimson caravan buy my dead caravan, Six said that you guys needed a caravan specialist so look no further" she said as she pointed at herself.

Winter shook her hand "Nice to meet you Cass, my name is Winter Schnee" she made sure to put a little bit of pressure to show just who she was as a person, a handshake could tell a lot about a person it was said. "Welcome aboard"

"Good, tell me when do we leave we can discuss payment later I just want to get out of this place" Cass commented as she reached for a bottle of whiskey from her pouch and Winter couldn't help but sigh, good another alcoholic. "We leave in ten minutes, Six did you…"

The Courier gave her a thumbs up "Sure did, shotgun shells and ammo for Maria. I did manage to get you some energy cells, one can never know what might attack us on the way back to new vegas" Winter grabbed the power cells and placed a hand on his shoulder "If we are lucky nothing so don't go jinxing our luck".

The rest of the trip was normal, Cass and Six got along swimmingly their taste in booze and weapons gave them plenty to talk about. Winter was more content in listening to their rambles only pitching in when she felt it was necessary.

"Shit trouble ahead, looks like powder gangers" Cass said as she took out her shotgun, Winter let out a sigh as she prepared her sword and glyphs, but to her surprise Six walked up to them only armed with spiked knuckles "Whatever you guys want, the problem is with me. So how about we settle this quietly with a fist fight and no one has to die"

The powder ganger laughed "Like hell we will, you know what I think; I think you got lucky killing Eddie and his boys and now look at you trying to…" Six jumped to conclusions as he let out a punch satisfied with the way that the head exploded. The other powder gangers took a step back "I did try boys, ladies would you give a few seconds with my friends" Six said as he tanked a few stray shots from their varmint riffles.

Cass gave a nod as the massacre unfolded; she put away her gun and turned to Winter "I think he's got this, so about my pay?" Winter snorted as she gave her an estimate, while Six finished the last of the powder gengers. Six grumbled as he looked around "Might be best if we stop by Primm, I don't trust that this where the only people from the Powder Gangers, they had shit weapons and probably where only doing recognizance, I rather not waste ammo with a full blown out battle with Powder Gangers"

Cass gave a thumbs up "You're the boos, I just hope they have a bar there" Winter narrowed her eyes at the horizon and saw a glimmer of red in the distance "I think it would be best, I don't think they were doing recognizance for Powder Gangers, follow me best if we stick to the shadows". The specialist said as they quietly made their way to Primm. The sheriff welcomed them and gave Six a stiff nod "Courier Six, Miss. Winter. Jason Nash was hoping to speak to either of you, he is in his office, but I was hoping to discuss some things with the courier"

Cass snorted "I guess both of you are busy, I will be at the bar, come find me when you are ready to leave" Cass said as she took off her hat and headed towards the Vicky and Vance casino, her red hair reflecting the setting sun. Winter made her way to the Mojave express office and found the old man slapping the radio "Come on you piece of junk, work"

"I was told you wanted to speak to me" the specialist said making the man look up "Ah yes, how have you been Miss Winter? You see recently we got this bucket of bolts dropped by another courier, he really wanted to have it delivered to Courier Six apparently it was shot down close by" Nash said as he lifted a broken robot from behind the counter.

Winter raised an eyebrow at the robot; he looked like a giant ball with different types of antennas sticking out of him, she reached inside the machine and pulled out a bullet "Sniper" she muttered to herself as she noticed that the shot had not damaged the main parts of the robots but it did fry the conectors. "You wouldn't happen to have some metal and cables around?"

Nash reached inside a box and gave her what she needed "Ten caps" Winter gave him the money and continued with her work, the cables had to be replaced but the connectors where intact. Winter slapped the new cables into place and then to keep the engine from being damaged she placed some metal outside, it looked like a car plate. With her energy weapon she welded it and then placed new energy source "Holy shit it actually worked!" Nash said excitedly as the machine came to live.

The robot beeped as it stared at Winter expectantly "Uh… companion protocol commence?" Winter said unsure as the robot gave a nod at her and made what it looked like a happy beeping noise. The specialist almost giggled at the robot "Look at you, aren't you just adorable?" she said as she placed a hand over the robot "So…" Winter leaned to the side as she caught small letters on the side "…ED-E, ready to head out?"

The newly named ED-E made a noise that sounded like approval and moved behind his new master, Winter turned to Nash and gave him a small wave. When she reached the saloon, the mood seemed to be separated in two Cass being miserable as she drowned her sorrows on booze and Six who had a more thoughtful aura to him. Winter sat next to him as ED-E scanned the area. Six gave a raised eyebrow at the robot "What's up with the eyebot?"

"ED-E and he is my new companion" Winter commented as the eyebot accidently rammed itself against Six making him glare at the machine "I see. I normally don't like eyebots but because it's yours I will make the exception" Six said as he downed the last bottle he had ordered he turned towards her fully "We have some problems Winter, Legion has been spotted on the area. If rumors are to be believed they have stolen some cargo that was supposed to be delivered to NCR at Camp Forlorn, if that is true it would mean that Legion is planning an attack on the only base that stops them for taking more of the region"

Winter narrowed her eyes as the map of the Mojave in her head became more red "If they do that they could march all the way over here, to Primm and cut off the support from the outpost"

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking. Cutting of supplies is something they do like they did in Hopeville and I'm sure they would try to do it again, with no supplies and less people the damn is ripe for the taking... and I also heard some rumors from the NCR" Six said as he ordered two more bottles Winter made a mental note to sk him what Hopeville was later. "It would seem like the veterans are finally coming to the battle and Legate Lanius is among them, the butcher makes people uncomfortable apparently even among legion. So my question is what do we do?"

Winter grabbed one of the beer bottles "If I was part of the NCR the best thing we could do is intercept the equipment and send it to the base, with the supplies they might be able to hold off or at the very least maintain the stalemate they have going on" the pair drank as they planed their next plan of action, Cass mumbled something drunkenly and both Six and Winter decided that it would be best to send her to New Vegas.

"I see the container" Six whispered as he and Winter took cover behind the rocks, Winter wiped the gecko blood off her sword as she glared "I don't like this Six, ED-E has not picked up any movement. I really doubt that the geckos killed a bunch of fully trained legionnaires"

Six threw a rock towards the cargo and frowned when nothing happened "No bombs either, Winter cover me I don't like this at all" Six said as he reached towards the large package sitting in the middle of the dessert. Winter quickly prepared to glyphs and her plasma rifle at the ready. Six opened up the cargo and found that it all remained intact "Lot's of bullets and grenades here" he muttered to himself as he used a sack instead of the heavy container that they were being originally transferred. Six moved stealthy back to where Winter was when a shot to his feet stopped him.

Cursing he aimed Maria at where he heard the weapon but the handgun was quickly shot out of his hand "Caesar has marked you for death profligate, now die!" the decanus yelled as both of the veteran legionaries opened fire on Six.

He cursed and threw a grenade their way, but it merely stopped them for a moment. Picking up Maria Six saw how two glyphs that looked like wolfs flew past him and sank their teeth into the decanus who merely grunted and brought down his machete on them shattering them into icy shards. "Sound the horn" the decanus said and as soon as the horn was heard from the rocks more legionaries jumped out hunting shotguns in hand. Winter cursed as her aura flared, she managed two create two more glyphs. The glyphs targeted the throats of the legion but to Winter surprise their armor managed to hold them off for a little.

Six opened fire with his grenade launcher managing to kill two "They are doing a pincer attack!" Winter yelled to Six as she saw both teams run towards them. Six cursed again as he noticed he had one last shot on his grenade launcher "Take the supplies, I'm right behind you I will just stall them for a moment"

Winter gave a nod as she saw him take aim at some rocks, the explosion made the legionaries take cover but Six could not make his escape. the Decanus machete almost decapitated him "Concentrate fire on the witch, you're mine" Six had to jump out of the way to avoid being bisected. "Fuck off you skirt wearing…" Six started as he landed a punch with all his might on the head of the Decanus. This did little to stop the man as he quickly recuperated and head-butted Six shattering his nose and bringing down his machete once again.

Winter sliced off the hand of one of her attacker but a shotgun blast made her aura dim a little too low for her liking, she punched the vexillarus away but he simply laughed "You hit like a…" Winter glared down as she sank her sword deep into his chest. The vexillarus coughed blood but refused to let go of her sword hand. "NOW!" he yelled as a veteran legionary came running in with a super sledge shattering Winter's aura and some of her ribs. Winter gasped and coughed as dust filled her mouth, thinking quickly she reached for her plasma rifle and fired immediately melting the head of the veteran.

A loud explosion was heard as limbs and organs fell around her, Winter tried to get up but her leg was shot by a hunting rifle. "Die profligate!" Winter managed to get to cover and looking at the supplies she summoned ED-E who was laying down supporting fire "ED-E, get this to the NCR and then move to tis coordinates" Winter said as she gave him the coordinates to the lucky thirty eight. "See you in a minute" she told the droid as she tied the cargo to him ED-E gave a sad beep as he valiantly flew off with it. The shots targeted him for a small second giving Winter enough time to shoot at the remaining enemies. There was a scream from her side and Winter gasped as she saw the Decanus fall death, the soldiers around him seemed to have died from an explosion, but there was a figure in the middle who was stirring even if he looked more dead than the others around him.

Winter jumped towards Six and tried to lift him "Come on we have to get out of this…" Winter stopped as she saw that Six had a machete lodged in his skull, more specifically in his left eye. Six was injecting himself with Stimpaks and med-x but it seemed it was doing little to stop the damage. Winter shook her head and let out a shaky breath, no time for emotion she had to get the both of them out of here. She wrapped her arms around him to help him up and then pushed them deeper into the valley. Her leg hurt like hell but she could only imagine the pain that Six was going through "Six, I think I see a small bunker where we can hide" the courier coughed up some blood as he held the last stimpak they had on his hand.

The specialist quietly opened the crate to the underground bunker as she heard the legion yell orders around her to locate them. She managed to open it and jumped inside trying to see any threats, there was a loud thud followed by a splat as Six fell inside the bunker. Winter cursed as she let out shaky breaths hoping that Six had not just killed himself that was way to much blood "Fuck, he really would not die. I exploded a grenade at their feet and he would not die" Six managed to gasp out as he placed himself in a sitting position, Winter felt her eyes water as she kneeled next to him "You… we need to… oh God I don't know what to do!" she felt a wet hand squeeze hers. "Hey it's ok I… I need help taking the machete off, then I will use this" Six said as he motioned towards the stimpak he was holding. Winter gave a shaky nod as she reached for the weapon and pulled, Six screamed in pain as he stabbed himself with the stimpak "FUCK… and I got lucky holy shit…" ragged breaths made it impossible for him to continue that sentence, his armor was in ruins and the metal was sinking into his flesh. Winter finally let the tears flow as she held Six softly "Please don't die, please don't die"

"…brotherhood" Six muttered making Winter look at his only eye. Following his gaze she saw a symbol she didn't recognize "Brotherhood of steel… they must have something to help"

Winter stood up and placed Six's arm on her shoulder "Come on, I'm not leaving you alone"

In the back of her mind it was mostly because she did not want his last moments to be spent alone, but as they headed deeper into the bunker she realized there was a familiar melodic voice "… the Sierra Madre has everything you desire". Winter gulped as she wondered deeper into the bunker and in the middle of the room there stood a small radio, it felt so silly how something so mundane could feel so threatening.

Winter gave a tentative step into the room and when nothing attacked them she took a deep breath of relief, but something was off with the air she started to cough and her vision started to blur. she tried to stay standing but her legs gave out as she fell, she was surprised by Six who gently caught her before it all faded to black.

Red was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes, so much red. An itching on her neck made her try to sit up but the sharp pain on her leg made it so she could only lean on one of her legs. This was not the bunker, Winter realized as she looked around for Six, she found his body close to a fountain. As she crawled her way towards him Winter realized that a big chunk of his leg was missing, a bite mark of the size of a small shark. Winter saw him breathing but it was labored, their surroundings finally became clear as a villa covered in red clouds came into view. Winter frantically looked around for anything that seemed familiar.

But there was nothing, only a shadow. The shadow of a large building that seemed to be surrounded by even more clouds behind her the hologram at the fountain flickered "Welcome everyone…" the connection died as Winter gulped in fear as she heard something get closer and closer as she wondered if this was hell.

"…to the Sierra Madre!"

A/N: I want to thank everyone for the support on this story, I really appreciate it; Vegas cannot be held without a team, good thing Winter and Six found very peculiar people on their travels. ED-E is Winter's companion, so every perk that ED-E gives belongs to Winter. Thanks again for the support and the love you have shown towards this story; I will be waiting for you in the Sierra Madre.