Chapter 28: Deadly and Dirty

Frost let the recorder run as Natalie received more reports from the radio. "…Estimated number of hostiles… taking fire… wounded?... I'm sending reinforcements now, Commissioner out," she stated as she slammed down the receiver. "Shit!" she hissed as she looked to her secondaries. "Harbuck, Bowen! Get your squads together and head out! 14th just came under fire to the northwest! Looks like Liberty Clan work!"

As the two men saluted and were dismissed, Carla filed away the report her mom had written and grabbed her rifle to join them. "Did they say how many?" she asked.

"Looks like its northwards of sixty, so according to what Wilson said, probably around a hundred," Natalie said as she snapped her holster over her belt. "1st Recon is reinforcing them right now, but I'm going with to see if we can arrange a ceasefire," she said as she knocked on the crude wooden table.

"What am I doing?" Carla asked, hopefully.

"Remaining behind," Natalie exclaimed as she checked the bullets in her revolver.

"Mo- Commissioner, I can fight!" Carla tried to complain.

"This is not a discussion. You are remaining behind," Natalie told her daughter as she headed out the door, giving orders without breaking her stride. Carla kicked the dirt as Frost snapped off the recorder. The interview with Commissioner Boone had come to a complete halt after word of the attack had reached her. As he would later learn, several Liberty Clan gunners had engaged the outermost perimeter defenses of the AEG, forcing a confrontation that led their reinforcements into a trap. None of this was known at the time, though, and Frost's primary concern was following out Carla as she made her retreat to the medical pavilions.

"Can't believe that… I worked so hard… treating me like a stupid kid…" Frost could hear Carla mutter as he kept the pace.

"…Uhm, I'm sure she only had the best intentions when she…" he began, much to his regret.

Carla wheeled on him, staring him down. "And when did I ask for your opinion?" she sneered.

Frost, by now used to this treatment, decided to continue unabated. "I feel the same, for what it's worth. I've been trying to get a one-on-one with your mother for weeks, and now this happens. She has a lot on her mind at the moment, and your safety isn't something she wants to worry about right now."

"Piss off," Carla snarled as she turned away to head to the MASH.

Larain had just passed by one of the tents as Tobey exited, gulping down his canteen. As of late, the biggest cause of casualties had been heat exposure, so with the 32nd on surveying duties to find well water, as well as the medical team's job of purifying whatever they found, the rationing of drinking water had been stifling camp morale. The Judicial Marshals, on long excursions in the deep desert, did have ways of making do with their own water. It wasn't pleasant, but it was at least sterile.

"Hey," Larain called out.

Tobey turned to look at him, his expression unchanging. As a whole, the AEG made it a point to treat the "civilian contractor" at an arm's length. Those he interacted with on the regular often made the prior treatment look preferable. Rosa hadn't called him Larain since they reunited. That Jimmy bastard kept giving him the stink-eye, and despite himself Larain couldn't help but feel nervous around someone who clearly wanted him dead and knew how to do it. Carla actually treated him humanely, but Larain was caught between seeing where it went and getting out as soon as possible. Joseph and Melody were a sweet couple as well, but they weren't the type of people Larain wanted to hang out with. That left Tobey, whose relationship with Larain could best be described as "aggressively neutral."

"Mhm," Tobey tilted his head up as he turned away.

"You seen Carla, anywhere?" Larain asked.

Tobey stopped and turned around to face him. "Why?" he asked, bluntly.

"Well, she kind of went off on her own and, well, we are kind of partners, aren't we?" Larain shrugged.

"…I'm her brother, dude," Tobey replied. "You think I'd care more about her whereabouts than you, should I?"

"I wasn't trying to imply you weren't, just…" Larain tried to get out.

"She went to do some odd jobs for mom. She'll be back before too long," Tobey finally replied. "If you were worried they'll send us out to kill those obnoxious hicks, I fully expect us to get held in reserve until we reach Legion territory proper."

"I'm sorry, hicks?" Larain asked, confused.

"Ah, what we Vegas folk like to call these wastelander gangs that give us all kinds of grief and shit," Tobey replied. "They go by some other stupid title like "Freedom Clubs" or something," he concluded, disinterested.

"…We're fighting Liberty Clans?" Larain asked, softly.

"Yeah, sounds about right," Tobey nodded as he left the Liberty Clansman.

Larain felt a cold sweat streak down his back. There were dozens of clans in the area. The odds of the McGrath's being one of them were… pretty strong, now that he thought of it. Kenzie had been looking for a fight ever since Vegas. If he got enough of the others together, then Larain had to get out of here sooner than he was ready to. Unless he stayed behind. Unless he kept sticking with the AEG for his own protection. Unless he turned his back on his people while Colonel Gorobets and Commissioner Boone plotted their destruction.

Jimmy peeked out from behind the wall of a tent, eating sunflower seeds by the piece. That little conversation he had with Tobey hadn't escaped his notice. He didn't necessarily have "evidence," but his sudden shift in mood after finding out about the Liberty Clans had all but confirmed some suspicions he had been having about their unwanted guest. He ducked back inside the tent, tossing the bag to Rosa as she laid on the cot.

"That's for patients, Rosa," Melody grumbled as she took a sip of water.

"I've been very patient, Mel, so I get a rest," Rosa grinned as she shoveled seeds in her mouth. Joseph appreciated the joke with a light chuckle while Melody continued to grouse. Jimmy simply sat on an available chair while Rosa cycled her feet in the air. It had been an uneventful morning and promised to be an uneventful evening. He was almost prepared to tell Rosa his suspicions about Larain, but he figured Joseph would admonish him for essentially speaking gossip, "the Devil's favorite tongue." Not inaccurate, Joseph thought to himself.

"You three better get ready to clear out, we'll have wounded coming inbound soon," Melody said as she finished preparing her equipment.

"If any of them don't make it, can I get first dibs on their stuff?" Rosa asked.

"ROSA!" Melody snapped.

"I was kidding, Mel!" Rosa held up her hands.

"Not even slightly funny," Melody scolded. "This is serious. We are the only medical personnel the AEG has. Every wound out here can easily become fatal, so keep in mind that there are no rear lines to send the wounded. Every loss hurts."

"You know what, you're right," Rosa admitted. "Sorry. I guess being stuck behind the front lines so long is making me a little callous."

"…Well, good," Melody nodded. "That's very self-aware and mature for you, Rosa. I guess there's hope for you yet. Come to think of it, anyone want to volunteer for assisting the medical staff?"

Jimmy held out his hand and waved it, his knowledge of first aid admittedly limited. Joseph sat upright, alert. Rosa was wondering if there was a way out here where she could finally discover what her blood type was before Joseph shot out of his seat and dragged her off the gurney. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Joseph screamed as bullets tore through the tent walls.

Melody dived for the ground while Jimmy, after having taken a knee and fishing out his pistol, traded fire with the incoming shooter. Rosa knocked the gurney on its side for cover as Joseph leaned his head against it, his mind awash with screaming and panic.

"We're under attack?!" Melody called out, scarcely believing the words on her lips as the faint sounds of shouting and gunfire filled the air. In the distance, they could make out a strange chanting. Joseph began to grimace as Rosa picked herself off the ground during a lull in the shooting. Jimmy had immediately stormed out of the tent, holstering his pistol as he pulled out his sawed-off.

"JIMMY, WAIT!" Rosa screamed as she picked herself off the ground.

"ROSA, NO!" Melody called out.

"THESE ASSHOLES ARE ATTACKING A HOSPITAL! FUCK THESE GUYS!" Rosa shot back as she ran out to join the fray.

Melody immediately crawled to Joseph as he reached for his cane and began chanting under his breath. "I… share the sentiment," Melody confessed. "Attacking medical tents is just… a special kind of twisted. Who would be sick enough to do this?"

Vulpes Inculta watched as the gun-toting priests stalked through the medical pavilions, emptying rounds into the tents as the screams mingled with the sounds of automatic fire. He turned to watch as Nemesio ignited his blue-flamed weapon, dragging it along the side of a tent as it quickly ignited, much to the shrieks of terror from the occupants inside.

Inculta did not struggle to find volunteers for this terror mission, every member of the congregation eagerly joined. Some, however, had to be pressured into attacking the medical section of the camp, with the larger portion on duty to hold off reinforcements while they waged their campaign of horror. So, in addition to the bishop himself, Vulpes was joined by six gunners while the remaining thirteen went to effectively meet their deaths.

A panicking doctor stumbled out of a perforated tent, his terror blinding him to the slow approach of Inculta as he tried to flee past the man. Vulpes embedded the width of the machete into his gut as he dragged it across, leaving the doctor sputtering mortally wounded on the ground.

Shots began to fire back as Vulpes tried to discern where they were coming from. Looking down several rows, he saw one of those marshals going prone as he fired his rifle at two of the monks. Inculta opted to fall back, not wanting to deny the mad monks their prey, as well as take into account their egress once the work was finished and their diversions were overrun.

Tobey managed to plug one of the monks in the center mass, but the body armor seemed to mitigate most of the damage while the partner fired back, forcing the marshal to relocate. He was barely able to stand up when the volley of automatic fire kicked up dirt around his previous position.

As he took cover the only way he could by breaking their visual behind a tent, Tobey tried to quickly assess what he was up against. He counted at least five hostiles, body armor and automatic weapons. It seemed like at least one had a flame thrower judging by the tents igniting as smoke billowed into the air. As far as he was aware, he was the only marshal on-site, with the rest of the AEG likely engaged with the hostile contacts from earlier today.

His thoughts came to a halt when he realized that the two hostiles had stopped shooting. Putting himself in the shoes of the terrorists, the only outcome he could think of that would make any sense would be if they had split up to flank him. Grumbling at his poor positioning, he immediately broke cover to engage with the one closest to him right as the other came up behind him.

As Tobey exchanged fire and dropped his engaged hostile, he heard the sounds of non-automatic fire behind him as a body collapsed. Taking a moment to look back, he saw the other priest flat on his back as a boot planted itself on his chest and fired a coup-de-grace into his skull. Larain took a moment to look over his shoulder, wordlessly asking if Tobey was alright. Tobey nodded, the most overwhelming display of gratitude he could muster at the moment, before joining the other gunner in the fight to take back the camp.

"Tobey, anyone, come in!" Carla screamed into her radio helmet as she took cover behind a rock. Three strange-looking but heavily armed priests had managed to intercept her, and this rock she was hiding behind took the brunt of their assault against the incoming marshal. Carla, as much as she was trained to fall back and await reinforcements, could not ignore the sights of the medical pavilion going up in flames. That's where Tobey was. That was where Rosa and Jimmy and Joe and Mel and Larain and basically every doctor in the AEG was held up at. She couldn't afford to wait. She pulled out her rifle and fired at the steadily approaching monks.

Frost was completely prone, hands over his head as dust kicked up around him. The first thing Carla had done once the shooting started was push him behind her, the safest place for the civilian being behind the only cover they had available, much to her chagrin. Still, she had no idea his camera on his back had activated, and while the picture quality wasn't especially exceptional, the audio was picking up everything.

"MOM! Where are you!" Carla screamed into her radio as a bullet grazed off the boulder and burst against the side of her helmet. As the three closed in, Carla steadily collected herself. She was Vegas born and bred, and as such, found herself about to gamble everything on one last play. She vaulted over the boulder, rifle before her as the mad monks' attention had been captured by another's arrival.

.50 caliber bullets shredded into the priests while Carla fired into their corpses. As the adrenaline coursed through her body, she immediately wheeled towards the power-armor-wearing newcomers.

"Easy, easy," Lt. Baxter replied as she lowered her machine gun. Carla slowly returned to earth as Lt. Baxter's squadmates pushed forward. She felt like she was going to heave and vomit while Kim approached to pat her on the shoulder. "That was commendable work, rookie. Reckless, but commendable."

"T-Tobey," Carla finally realized, looking back at the burning hospital.

"Stay on my six, we'll be the spearpoint," Lt. Baxter ordered. Frost gingerly peeked from behind the much-abused boulder. "What should I do?" he meekly asked.

"YOUR FUCKING JOB, CAMERAMAN!" Kim screamed as she turned and continued her steady charge forward. Carla looked over her shoulder as Frost grabbed the camera and left the rock with a determination that mimicked her own. As much as she wanted to kneecap the civvie, right now she had much more pressing concerns, even beyond her own safety.

In the distance, an explosion rocked the landscape some distance away from the hospital. The 32nd had been making its own push towards the medical camp, where they had encountered a dozen or so of the gunners. While most were quickly overwhelmed, one of the survivors rushed the approaching troopers, an explosive vest primed on hand.

A monk's shoulder erupted as Jimmy chambered another round in his shotgun. A priest let out a burst of rounds as Rosa rushed him down, rounds straying over her head as she pulled out her machete, sliding on her legs as she reached him and undercutting his knee with her blade. As he fell, she came to her feet and dragged her blade across his throat. Elsewhere, Joseph was sweating as he reached out and touched the minds of the two surviving gunners. Angry as he was, he chose not to impose upon them his will, instead throwing off their aim by inches, enough to mitigate casualties while remaining subtle enough to not arouse their suspicion. Everyone who handled guns had off days, after all.

"Jimmy, find Tobey and get back to Joe and Mel!" Rosa ordered as she skewered the corpse with her machete in a fit of anger.

"What are you doing?!" Jimmy asked as he clocked the wounded priest in the jaw with the stock of his shotgun.

"Finding the jackass starting all the fires and killing him!" Rosa growled as she stormed off.

"It's too…" Jimmy stopped. She knew that as stubborn and heated as she was feeling now, there was no talking her down. The best thing he could do was find Tobey or Joseph and press on her to fall back as part of a united front. Reluctantly, he left her to her business.

Rosa only had to break through a few retreating surgeons and nurses to find the arsonist. The man wore holy garb like the rest of the attackers, but his seemed even more distinguished with designs of purple roses and skulls weaved into the vestments. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and wielded a makeshift flaming sword that raiders and eccentric prospectors liked to use. That being said, she'd be lying if she had ever heard of one glowing blue.

The arsonist turned to face her, his face covered in a rebreather and goggles that obscured his features thoroughly. The psycho-priest tilted his head to the side as he observed this girl who would challenge him. Fascinating, he thought to himself.

"Why are you doing this?!" Rosa screamed through her tears.

"I serve the Revelation, child," Nemesio replied, without passion or malice. "All humanity is gifted with death; it is my burden to oversee its deliverance."

"God told you to set a hospital on fire?!" Rosa replied, disbelieving. "Go fuck yourself!"

Nemesio saluted the girl by brandishing his weapon before him. Rosa didn't believe he was worth indulging, instead rushing him down directly, parrying away the blade as it swung for her, the heat kissing her skin as she dove and wove around the holy swordsman.

"…They're coming…" Joseph let out an exhale as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Melody had taken him as far from the onslaught as she could, but being Joseph, he insisted he remain behind and help as best he could. While Melody couldn't understand how, despite the surprise attack, her mental headcount had seen that most of the staff had successfully managed to escape from the attack, somehow. Between the quick engagement of what passed for a security staff they had on hand and the remarkably poor accuracy on behalf of the attackers, it seemed that a surprising majority of the staff was able to escape unharmed.

Melody pressed her hand on Joseph's shoulder as he continued his work. Having expended their ammo, and with reinforcements coming faster than expected, the two remaining priests had decided to fall back and await their commanders. Said commander was engaged in combat with a fiery and furious Rosa, who was throwing all her strength into countering his strikes with his flaming sword. Joseph had to give her this much, she was clever. Meanwhile, Tobey and Larain were performing a sweep, checking any potential wounded while staying on alert for any remaining hostiles. He felt that they were drawing closer to Rosa's fight, whereas Jimmy was drawing closer to the two of them. That was when he felt a cold terror engulf his wife.

Melody Young's earliest memories were not happy ones. She had been born near an NCR outpost east of the Colorado, close to a small settlement off the river. She couldn't remember much of her parents, all she could were screaming, gunfire, burning buildings, and those horrible men torching the whole settlement while the survivors huddled and whimpered together, the little Melody clutching the last toy her father gave her. Amidst all of that, the lead legionary oversaw all of them with an icy glare that was all but burned in her memories.

Joseph tried to reach out, tried to discover where the source of his wife's trauma was coming from. All he could sense was anger, righteousness, fear, resilience, and doubt remaining in the camp. That was when, for the first time in his life, someone managed to sneak up on Joseph Young. By the time he heard the footsteps, it was already too late. The knife skewered into his stomach. Vulpes watched as the blind man sputtered and dropped to his knees while the woman doctor collapsed in a catatonic state.

Rosa put everything behind her swings as she forced the priest to fight defensively. Her fingers were beginning to blister, and some close calls had marked her arms, but this piece of shit was finally right where she wanted him. As he stumbled back, Rosa wailed on his blue sword as he could only hold it out to defend itself. She felt it begin to give more and more, much to Nemesio's concern. As terrifying as a flaming sword was, speaking practically, it also slowly destroyed its own conditioning the more it was used. The blade finally snapped, the end tumbling away as Rosa skewered Nemesio through the chest.

"How's it feel being helpless?" Rosa hissed as she put all her weight behind the blade. Nemesio seemed to look back at Rosa, arms hanging limply by his sides. She wondered if she had killed him. Then, suddenly, Nemesio sprang forward, hands wrapped around her neck, machete still stuck through his chest. Rosa was forced off the priest with inhuman strength and suddenly felt the iron vice grip begin to tighten.

"You don't know the first thing about true submission, child," Nemesio replied, without passion or malice.

A bullet tore into his side. Nemesio seemed to drop his prey in confusion, turning to see the marshal and the other approaching him. He grabbed the handle of the machete and drew it from his body, beckoning the newcomers to experience their own sermons.

Jimmy arrived to see Joseph laying in a pool of his own blood while Melody knelt beside him, oblivious to the world. The mobster pulled out a stimpack as he immediately bolted to the fallen preacher. He buried the needle right above the wound, watching the healing accelerate as the wound began to close, but without direct medical intervention, at most he was just buying Joseph some time.

Next, he turned to Melody as she hyperventilated. He couldn't even begin to imagine what was running through her head after whatever she had witnessed. It was going to take someone far more knowledgeable and skilled to help with whatever trauma she was currently undergoing. Unfortunately, they didn't have the luxury of options, so Jimmy just had to backhand Melody to try and snap her out.

Even as her eyes began to brighten and clear, Melody slowly began to recognize Jimmy as a friend. "…Jim… Jimmy…" she began to mutter, slowly returning to her senses.

"I'm sorry, Mel, but I really need your help," Jimmy pressed as Joseph moaned in pain. "He's losing a lot of blood!"

"Who…" Melody got out before turning beside her and seeing her husband bleeding out on the ground.

The scream had gotten everyone's attention. Guns still trained on the priest, Larain and Tobey both turned to look at one another. "Melody," Tobey said aloud as Larain nodded. As Rosa coughed and got back on her feet, she managed to choke out, "Something's wrong with Joe," as she slowly broke into a run back to the source of the scream.

Tobey broke his line of sight with the priest as he ran to join her, leaving Larain to stare down the man by himself.

"…You don't belong here," Nemesio opened. "Kenzie's been looking for you."

"…Kenzie did this?" Larain asked as he kept his guns trained on the priest holding a machete.

"We are united in purpose, though we have different names for it. Some call it freedom, others glory, and myself the Revelation. Come with us if you are tired of pretending," Nemesio goaded.

"Larain!" a female voice called out. "Where are you!"

"Carla?" Larain turned to look over his shoulder. He realized his mistake too late. Returning his sight to his captive, all he saw was the hilt of a machete sticking out of the ground, the priest had vanished as if he had never been there.

The blade had penetrated through Joseph, leaving him with two separate wounds to deal with, in addition to any internal hemorrhaging they could identify on the desert floor. The most Melody could do at the moment was seal his wounds and wait for the medical staff to return when it was safe. Fortunately, in the bleakest sense of the term, the attacker's main concern was wounding his target, not killing him. It was just like him, Melody thought as she gulped back the memory.

Rosa had been first to arrive, followed by Tobey, and Larain a minute or so later. Heavy troopers then entered and secured the immediate perimeter, with Carla and Frost accompanying them. The entire camp was secured when the 32nd arrived, a haggard-looking Captain Wallace assuming direct command of the camp. Five of his troopers had been killed by the suicide attack on his way to secure the camp.

Elsewhere, the reinforcements sent to relieve the beleaguered scouts had been attacked by a group of vicious tribals. They had outmaneuvered the marshals and troopers, attacking their flanks with a coordinated and reckless assault. The attack was only lifted when Captain Rathmore led a unit of super mutants to outflank the tribals, annihilating one pincer while allowing the rest of the force to repel the second.

In the end, casualties were as followed; 12 Judicial Marshals killed, 7 wounded. 41 total NCR troopers killed, 13 wounded. 16 Ministerio monks killed, one captured. 49 Pelt-Brutes killed, no wounded. 8 Liberty Clan gunners killed, unknown wounded. 5 doctors killed, 16 wounded. It was a grisly report Frost typed up at the end of the night, and it had been a grisly day for the entire AEG.

Someone had outmaneuvered them. They only realized the true scope and aim of the attack once the MASH had already been attacked. Whoever was leading the opposing force was a skilled strategist who had homed in on the weaknesses of the AEG's camp and exploited it with decisive aplomb. The exhausted survivors had only a restless night to reward them for surviving, with Colonel Gorobets and Commissioner Natalie turning down rest as to look over their plans to make sure today never happened again.

Vulpes watched the battered camp from the horizon, the essence of their damaged morale palpable even from this distance. So, this is what it felt like, he thought to himself as Nemesio began wordlessly cauterizing his wounds with a burning log from the campfire. The satisfaction only fueled his further ambition. Already, he was writing up the ultimate symphony for the AEG's burial. And now he knew where and when to do it.

OK, and with that, I leave my readers with two questions:

Why are most of you guys scared of leaving feedback? It's the closest thing to pay I ask for, and I take both praise and con-crit alike seriously. And…

Why aren't more of you reading and reviewing "The Edge of Glory," Interfectorem's newest fic. He is one of the only other writers in the tab who shares my style of world-building across multiple fics, and lately, we've been loaning each other characters, so as far as I'm concerned, his success also counts as my success. Seriously, if you want quality writing, check his stuff out.

That is all, I hope you all had "fun" with this chapter!