"I'm telling you it was just thunder."
Penelope pinched the bridge of her nose. The pair of orcs had been going back and forth for almost a half hour by this point.
"And like I said, it couldn't be thunder. There's hardly a cloud in the sky!"
The sisters in arms had heard a loud boom earlier and ever since the pair had been sitting in their camp theorizing what the source was.
"Astrid I left my tent to see what the noise was, not spend the better part of an hour arguing what it was, I haven't even had the chance to break in my newest capture yet." Penelope said.
"What if it's something dangerous? We should at least send someone to look?" Astrid argued.
"I'm not going anywhere unless the chief says otherwise, we only have a few hours before the next raid and I intend to spend every second making my new husband scream my name." Penelope said, waving off her sister's concern.
"Pen this is serious! I have a bad feeling about this." Astrid pleaded with her sister.
But to no avail Penelope had little interest. "You're the only one who's worried." Penelope said as a condescending grin grew on her face. "If you're so worried why not investigate yourself, I mean you have plenty of free time still being single and all."
Astrid clenched her fists fuming with anger.
"That's a low blow Pen!" Astrid yelled, but once again Penelope was unfazed.
"Well it's true! It's your own fault for being so damn picky with the captures." Penelope shot back.
Astrid's demeanor then changed to one of embarrassment. "I-i'm not 'picky' I'm just…waiting to find the right man for me." Astrid said as a blush spread across her face as she imagined her ideal partner.
Penelope was unamused and turned around to go back to her tent. "Well daydream all you want, I'm going back to my tent to fuck my REAL husband."
Penelope took one step then heard a loud bang similar to the one she heard earlier only it sounded so much louder and closer. And just as she heard the sound the orc warrior felt something wet hit the back of her bare neck.
Reaching the back of her neck with her hand Penelope felt the substance all over her neck. Pulling her hand Back Penelope's eyes went wide with shock and fear as it was revealed to be bright red blood.
Turning around Penelope was stunned to see Astrid's body motionless on the ground with a large head wound leaking blood.
Penelope was fast to realize in horror whose blood was splashed on her body. But before the orc could scream or cry for help another deafening boom signaled the end of her life as a bullet entered her skull.
Six cocked the handle of Medicine Stick.
That was two down, and if Six was honest this was going a lot easier than he anticipated.
After getting directions from the mutant Six found an open field devoid of trees where the raiders had set up shop. Setting up far enough that he was still hidden within the forest's trees, the courier took a kneeling position and prepared to pick off these raider's one by one with his rifle.
He was a tad surprised to find that the whole camp was made up of the same type of creature but pieced together that 'orc' must have been local slang for 'mutant'.
Regardless of what they're called, Six had a job to do. And once again it was almost too easy. Another of the mutants came running towards the previous two's bodies and Six once again aligned the shot and fired.
"They hear gun fire and start runnin' out in the open?" Six thought to himself.
But now that Six was thinking of it, the scout he met earlier didn't have any guns on her person and as far as he could tell through his scope neither did the three he just ended.
Between the lack of guns, melee weapons, and the fact they were taking slaves, Six wondered if he came across the female version of the Legion.
Six shook his head once scolding himself for once again getting distracted. Just because they were dropping like bloatflies doesn't mean he can get sloppy.
After the third shot more and more of the mutants began exiting their tents only to see the results of Six's handy work.
Six inhaled and took aim. In quick succession Six fired the last five bullets from Medicine stick killing three of the mutants with head shots, crippling one's left leg, and sending one to the ground from a shot to the stomach.
It seemed the remaining warriors figured out where six was from the noise of his shots.
"Well it's not like I use these 'cause they're quiet." Six thought as he holstered Medicine Stick over his back and brought out Lucky and his other revolver and began going on the offensive.
Leaving the cover of the forest, Six made a steady pace towards the approaching raider.
"Two revolvers, twelve bullets, eight comin' at me…"
Courier Six was a flawed man. He wasn't as bright as the previous ruler of Vegas. Science, medicine, and unless it was a lever action or revolver repairing items was all beyond Six's skill set. And if you asked most people from the Mojave they'd tell you Courier Six wasn't all that charming, scary and friendly when the situation called for it sure but not nearly as suave as the stories made him out to be.
But if there was one thing Six excelled at it was how to shoot. He won't touch laser weapons, but if you ever saw the courier pick up a pistol you'd better run. From the first moment he held a varmint rifle back in Goodsprings Six felt a connection with rifles and pistols.
With unmatched precision Six fired three shots from his dual revolvers ending the life of three of the approaching raiders. The rest were fast approaching, closing the distance.
One of the orcs swung at Six with a spiked club but missed as Six ducked and fired a close range shot into her chest causing her to collapse.
Normally with 357. Ammo Six needed to be more selective with where he aimed but these mutants were hardly wearing what he'd consider clothes let alone actual protection.
In fact Six was struggling a bit to keep his focus. A gunslinging killer he may be but Six was still a man and even with the pig ears and tails these women were knockouts.
An orc with a spear charged Six and was met with the Courier dodging to the side and slamming the butt of Lucky's grip into her throat.
The orc dropped her weapon and brought her hand to neck in a vain attempt to help her crushed windpipe.
Not wasting time Six put a stop to her pain with a single shot to the head.
After dealing with Legion hit squads for the better part of a year, Six had become used to fighting those with melee weapons.
An orc archer toward the back of the group let loose an arrow that Six didn't didn't see coming until it was far too late.
However [Luck] was on Six's side as the arrow hit the thicker part of his SWAT vest causing no harm. The surprise of the arrow however allowed another orc with a maul to land a good swing against the gunslinger causing Six to get knocked onto his back. The hit caused Six to drop his side revolver but kept a firm grip on Lucky.
The orc with the maul went for an overhead swing on the downed Six. But with finesse Six unloaded a shot into the orc's leg blowing out her kneecap causing the monster girl to topple.
Rising to his feet Six quickly retrieved his dropped revolver and put an end to the injured orc.
Locking eyes with the orc archer that remained behind the orc realized that she was this warrior's next target.
Gripping her bow tightly the orc turned and retreated deeper into the camp.
Six had to take a moment to collect himself.
"Two revolvers…seven shots fired…four from Lucky…three from the other…six dead and one runnin'."
Six quickly realized the problem with those numbers and became aware of the flash of metal being thrusted towards his head.
The missing orc had gotten the drop on Six and went for the kill with her sword. Six narrowly avoided the lethal blow with the sword cutting the side of his head barely missing his right eye.
Six had to catch his footing to avoid toppling again.
"You killed my sisters you bastard! I'm going to make sure you-" The orc's words died in her mouth as she saw the courier turn to face her.
And it was then she noticed the red color leaking from Six's head.
"Wait, you're bleeding? You shouldn't be bleeding this is demon realm silv-" The orcs questioning was cut short by a bullet.
Breathing heavily, Six looked around in case any more surprises were waiting for him.
With Lucky still in his hand Six pressed his right wrist against the side of his head and confirmed that he was in fact bleeding.
The cut wasn't too deep going no further than the surface thanks to the Sub-Dermal Armor and it'll be healed soon thanks to the Monocyte Breeder implant.
Man Six loved being part robot.
Reloading his guns Six began his march deeper into the raider camp eying the injured orc he shot in the leg.
It seemed she was crawling the same direction the archer ran.
Without pause and in one fluid motion Six put the raider out of her misery with a single bullet and continued to finish his job.
Violet ran with tears running down her check.
This man had killed her sisters. He killed them in a way she had never seen before. He killed them without saying anything.
"Coward." Her mind kept repeating over and over.
"Coward, you left Helen back there! She was in the dirt begging you to help her!"
Violet heard the familiar bang after she ran. She could put two and two together.
This man had killed her sisters ruthlessly and without any shred of mercy, it had to be one of those infernal heroes blessed by the Chief God!
"I'll get the chief and she'll fix this. I'll get the chief and she'll fix this. I'll get the chief and she'll fix this." She kept repeating over and over.
Violet was so focused on getting to her leader she didn't notice the other bangs firing off behind her or the other orcs running alongside her in fear.
Kagha didn't pay any attention to the noise at first. She was too busy playing with her new 'toys' to care. The way they pleaded and begged filled her with excitement that could never be matched.
However when the bangs and booms got louder and faster that's when she started paying attention. And when she heard the screams of her girls that's when she stopped mid thrust with one of her husbands. The Orc leader pushed herself off her lover and quickly got dressed and grabbed her war ax.
Exiting her tent she noticed that the camp didn't look out of the ordinary. Just more empty than usual.
Kagha told her girls to rest up and get their fill of fucks because tonight was supposed to be the final raid of the village.
Piece by piece and man by man she was taking everything from that village. Enough food for a feast worthy of a king, enough men so each of her girls would have a husband, and enough women to double her forces.
And this was supposed the just be the beginning town by town she would raid, pillage, and fuck until she had her own army to take over Lescatie.
She didn't give a damn what the Demon Lord's envoy said; she'd do nothing less than what she'd please until she was queen of her own kingdom.
It was once she saw five of her girls running toward her with expressions ranging in fear to full on terror that she knew something was wrong.
"CHIEF!" One of them yelled before getting close to her.
Once the group had closed the distance all of them had begun frantically trying to describe the situation at once.
"Chief there's an intruder-"
"-Killed them! Why did I run-"
"-never seen those weapons-"
"-They're all dead-"
"ENOUGH!" With that one yell the mighty orc lord had silenced all her subordinates.
"One of you, only one, tell me what's happening." Just as the question left her lips Kagha spotted a figure approaching her group, and it was obvious it wasn't one of her girls.
Six approached the group of mutants at a steady pace with his weapons resting in their holsters ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
He figured following the runaway raider would lead him to their boss and from the way they were hiding behind the tall and muscular woman with long silver hair Six would wager a guess that's exactly who was staring him down.
Once Six was at a good enough distance for his liking he came to a halt meeting the raider boss' glare with one of his own.
For a few brief seconds neither high orc nor courier said a word with only the group of orcs nervously looking back and forth between the two until Six broke the uneasy silence.
"Am I right in assumin' you're the one in charge of this little group?" Six asked.
Kagha scoffed. "I am High Orc Kagha, Chief of this tribe! You will show me the proper respect intruder, what do you want?" Kagha demanded.
"I've killed 'bout tenor so of y'all, how many does that leave of yer little gang?" Six asked the leader.
Kagha's grip tightened around her axe in fury threatening to snap the weapon in two. This man had Killed her girls?!
"You killed them?!" Those were the only words Kagha's rage could muster up against the stranger.
Violet spoke up to confirm. "It's true chief! I saw it! He killed them with those weapons!"
Kagha pointed her axe at Six in an accusatory manner "Who the hell are you to just come into my camp and kill my subordinates?! Are you one of the Chief God's dogs who come to strike us down?"
Six raised an eyebrow. That's twice now someone asked if he was a religious man. Maybe 'Chief God' was more of a metaphor than anything else. Regardless, he didn't have time to ask questions.
"No ma'am, I'm just a courier come to give ya'll a message."
Now it was Kagha who was confused. "A courier?" The Chieftess asked.
"That's right, I have a message from the town y'all have been harassin'. The message is they want their shit back and to fuck off." Six stated firmly.
Kagha began to smirk, and that smirk turned into laughter, and the laughter turned into manic cackling.
"Oh I get it now! Those sniveling townsfolk put their last hope in the hands of a mercenary!" Kagha laughter died down as a serious look adorned her face.
"But it doesn't change the fact that over half of my tribe are dead because of you."
"I'm willin' to let the rest of ya'll walk if you return what ya took." Six offered. And he meant it, normally Six would wipe out a raider camp without a second thought. However Six was in unfamiliar territory, and if he played his cards right these raiders might tell other groups to stay away from the town.
Back in the Mojave it was a commonly known rule that if a town was under the protection of Courier Six you stayed the fuck away and didn't cause any trouble if you valued you're life. But here it was just a weird name belonging to a stranger.
Kagha laughed once more. "You're 'willing to let us go'? Do you really think you are in a position to speak like that?
"It's a good deal." Six assured. "Normally I don't even waste time talkin' to slaving shits such as yourselves, but I'm feelin' generous today, all I'm askin' is you give the town back what y'all took, never come back, and tell every raider, mutant, or whatever you come across that Partluv is off limits. In exchange you, and the rest of yer gang, get to live."
Kagha felt many things after that. She felt grief over the fact that she'd never see the cheerful faces of her girls again. Rage that this man who had killed so many of her girls and talked to her so brazenly as if he didn't take what was most precious to her.
But she also felt excited.
Most men she came across in her travels were weak and cowardly surrendering to her on the spot. Any man that stood against her and her tribe had the honor of becoming her husband but even then those who challenged her fell and became no less spineless than those who ran.
But this man walked and spoke with a confidence that Kagha found enticing. She couldn't wake to break him.
"Here's MY offer I'm going to force you into submission and fuck you into the very earth itself until you give me a daughter for each one of my girls you killed!" Kagha declared.
"..."
For almost a full minute neither courier nor orc spoke, only staring at one another until Six broke the silence.
"Okay I'll admit…..that's a new one." Six said as he moved his hand to hover over Lucky.
"So I'll give you a chance now to surrender! Do so and I'll keep you as my top husband." Kagha said, raising her axe. The confidence of the high orc seemed to spread to the rest of her remaining tribe as they lifted their own weapons. They had a six on one advantage and they had their chief! The woman who had never lost a fight, the woman who had led them to victory countless times before, the very woman would sit on the throne of a conquered Lescati.
"I'm afraid I ain't too cotton about yer offer."
"Then I guess we know what comes next." Kagha said, readying herself for a fight.
"This ain't gonna end the way you think it will." Six simply said.
And once again a heavy silence filled the air as both courier and orcs waited for the other to make the first move.
Quick drawing. The art of drawing your weapon and hitting a target, or multiple targets, as accurately and quickly as possible.
This act was popularized in pre-war western media and would eventually make its way as a fighting style in the post apocalyptic wasteland that most knew. One of the very few and only pre-bullet memories Six had was reading pre-war comic books as a child depicting gunslingers and was inspired and enamored by the skill.
It started as a hobby that grew into a noteworthy skill. Once Six met Raul the old ghoul gave Six personal lessons and advice on how to perfect the craft.
The combination of countless hours honing this skill, cybernetic implants to improve reaction time, and V.A.T.S lead to Six's childhood dreams of becoming the best gunslinger in the wastes to becoming a reality.
The second Kagha and her five remaining tribemates took their first step Six unholstered Lucky and activated V.A.T.S. With practiced precision Six fanned the revolver's hammer firing five shots in rapid succession each aimed at the heads of his attackers.
And like that Kagha and four of her remaining followers fell to the ground dead before they could take their second step.
The last orc remaining screamed at the sight of her leader and sisters dropping and fell to her knees. Either in fear or shock the orc didn't take her eyes off her leader's corpse, tears flowing out of her eyes.
Six holstered his smoking gun and calmly walked to the crying orc.
"You have a name miss?" Six asked in the most polite tone he could muster.
The orc however didn't respond and merely continued to stare at the carnage before her.
"MISS!"
The shout shocked the orc out of her daze and looked up at her tribe's butcher.
"Do you have a name?" Six asked again.
"E-eve." Eve replied with a shaky voice.
"Eve." Six began. "I offered yer boss a deal to walk away with her life. But she decided to be a fool and forced my hand and she paid the price. All she had to do was tell people what happened and not come back. So I got a question for ya."
Six took a knee to look the terrified orc in her eyes.
"Are you a fool Miss Eve?"
That question. That ONE question seemed to repeat in Eve's head a million different ways.
Shaking her head as fast as she could Eve answered. "N-NO NO NO I'M NOT!"
Six stood up. "Good, so go and tell all yer friends what happens when you come near Partluv."
With tears in her eyes and venom in her voice Eve responded. "You've already killed all my friends."
Eve stared into the stranger's eyes. With the wide brim of his hat and the unusual mask covering his eyes were the only part of his face revealed and made it hard to focus on anything else. Eve expected anger, or in the unlikely event maybe even the smallest shred of remorse, to fill the stranger's eyes. But what she was met with was just indifference.
"Well then you'd better go make new ones then." The coldness of the response sent chills down Eve's body.
With shaky legs Eve stood up before taking a couple steps backwards to see if this whole thing wasn't some sick joke he was playing on her, letting her think she'd live only to finish her off once her back was turned. Once she saw that Six made no move to reach for his weapons Eve sparred one last glance at her fallen comrades and turned to run as fast as her legs could carry her.
Once the orc was out of sight Six let out a breath and relaxed his muscles and looked around at his handiwork.
Compared to previous jobs this may have been amongst the easiest but it definitely also up there with the strangest.
"All you did was send another man off to his death, or at the very least a lifetime of servitude to a monster."
Edwin winced at the harsh tone.
After Six had left the tavern Edwin had gathered up what little remained of the town's leadership at his tavern to explain the situation.
There was Sister Iris the priestess that was now in charge of the local chapel after the head priest had been taken by the orcs, she had long straight blue hair and was dressed in her usual priestess garb.
Next was Blair who was the wife and smithing partner of the local blacksmith, who had also been kidnapped. She had a tanned complexion and short black hair.
And lastly, and most intimidating, was Mayor Kara who had been the Village's leader for over a decade who was as stalwart as she was strict. Age had shown itself in the woman with a single streak of white hair clashing with the inky black hair tied into a neat bun.
Edwin figured that telling them that 'a stranger showed up and said he'd get their people back and we need to have his payment ready' wouldn't go over easily but he wasn't ready for the piercing glare of his Mayor.
"I know how it looks Ms. Kara, but the man seemed confidant he'd defeat the orcs." Edwin said.
"Foolishness is often mistaken for confidence Edwin, if you told me this was a hero of the Chief God then I'd be more inclined to believe this story." Kara said, crossing her arms.
"If this stranger was asking for a reward I can confidently say that he is no hero." Sister Iris said. "I still hold the belief that our prayers will be answered and the Chief God's chosen will arrive but this man you describe sounds like anything but."
"I asked him if he was but denied the claim, he called himself a courier." Edwin explained.
"If that's true then that proves this man was either lying or mad, what can a lone messenger do against an orc tribe? This whole thing seems more like a scam to trick us out of what little we have." Kara said.
"I don't give a shit if he's a hero, courier, whatever if he gets Lucan back I'll give him everything I own." Blair said solemnly. Since the meeting started the blacksmith had said nothing. She was the only one among them that had someone directly related taken away.
"Blair I understand your pain, but it's foolish to put our hopes in a stranger." Kara said, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder.
Blair shook the older woman's hand off in frustration. "Is it any better than putting our faith in the chief god?"
Sister Iris gasped. "Blair you can't say things like that!"
Blair stood up straight, it seemed any anger she had been holding back began to flood over. "Oh I can't? We sent word for help from Lescatie a WEEK ago, it takes two days to reach Lescatie by horse and we haven't even received a letter back! As far as I'm concerned the chief god has left us for dead."
Now it was Sister Iris who stood up in anger. "What you are saying is blasphemy Blair!"
Before any more yelling was done the tavern door was slammed open by one of the village residents.
"Mayor! You need to see this!"
Edwin and the village's leadership stood on the porch of the Tavern with wide eyes and open mouths.
Dozens of men were marching through town, all were wrapped with blankets or wearing nothing but tattered rags.
Wives, daughters, and mothers flooded the streets to reunite with their loved ones. Blair herself ran into the street when she saw her husband.
Standing out amongst the village man was the stranger that fit Edwin's description, calmly walking up to the porch through the crowds of reunions.
Edwin walked down the steps to meet the courier leaving the stunned priestess and mayor to continue watching the miracle.
"You did it! By the Chief God you actually did it!" Edwin said with shaky breath.
"That I did partner, just like I said I would now there's only one thing left to handle." Six said.
"Handle?" Edwin asked
"It's time to pay up." Six simply said. "I don't work for free."
This fic was inspired by Fallout: Stranded by yaboi346 and Bye Bye Love by Astevalus both are fantastic reads if you are one of the dozen people who wanted a MGE/Fallout crossover
:Disclaimer: I enjoy the MGE universe however I know there are some major problems with it thus NO 'child' like characters will appear in this story and any children featured WILL NOT be put into any explicit situations: