Comic has killed a lot of raiders in her time, more than she could count in fact, but hot damn she has killed more raiders in the past 12 hours than in the entire week combined before heading to the Mojave. And that's counting the ambush on the Nest. She leaned against a wall and slid down, letting out an exhausted sigh as she looked out the huge hole on the wall to her right. They were finally in Vegas, technically. The three rangers currently found themselves in an abandoned house on the northwest suburbs of Vegas, Entenna Hills or something she'd read on a sign.

She took out her almost spent pack of cigarettes and a box of matches she always kept on her person and lit one. Taking a long drag, she looked at the bright lights of New Vegas. It was almost baffling how a place that hasn't existed for that long managed to be so bright in the night, and rake in more caps in a day than all the major casinos in New Reno combined. The novelty of the new, she supposed.

"Admiring the view?" Wraith came inside the room, before taking a seat opposite to Comic.

"You could say that. I think I get the whole 'Neon City' thing now. We're still a few miles out and I can see the lights and neon signs from here. Were you ever inside? The Strip I mean."

"Nope. I think Moon and Vaquero have though. They have always been the more gambling inclined out of all of us. Moon has her ventures in Reno and Vaquero, well y'know." Wraith pulled out a canteen from his duster

An evil smirk formed in Comic's face. "No, I don't know Rammy. Why don't you explain it?"

"Well, hum, y-you know. It's because he's…"

"He's what?" Her smirk grew."

"Listen, I'm not saying it's because he's Mexican."

Comic put her hands up. "You said it, not me."

"I didn't-"

"Tsk tsk Simon Ramidez." Comic 'disapprovingly' shook her head. "I didn't know you had it in you to say something so racist. Now isn't this the pot calling the kettle black, my african-american friend."

Wraith deadpanned. "I hate you so much right now."

Comic finally broke character and burst out laughing and wheezing. For the past sixteen years there were few times Comic had missed a chance to make or poke fun at Wraith. However, a key detail she had momentarily forgotten was that she still had the cigarette in her mouth. So when she took a breath from all the laughing, she inhaled all the smoke and burst out coughing.

"Karma's a bitch isn't it?"

"Well in my - cough cough- defense. It was pretty funny."

"Racist humor is not funny, Mic."

"I wasn't the one that was racist."

"One day, you'll say the wrong joke to the wrong person, and I won't be there to bail you out. And if I am there, I'll laugh as I watch the angry crowd beat your ass. Now gimme a cig, I'm out."

Comic rolled her eyes and gave Wraith a cigarette and matches to light it. "Why do you say that? People like jokes."

"Do I need to remind you of the 'Zombie Joke' you said in Gecko?" Comic went quiet at that. "Or the Supermutant Joke in Broken Hills; or the Priest one in New Jerusalem; or–"

"I get it! I get it! People don't like my edgy humor. I'll stop. Happy?"

"Very much." Wraith took a drag. "On a more serious note. When we find Rider, do you really think she'll come back with us? Mic I'll go to the ends of the Earth with you, but do you really think this is what you want to do?"

Comic averted her eyes, looking back at the shining lights in the distance. "I hope so. I mean, I hope that we had meant something. That I-" Her cheeks flushed red. "The squad! T-That the squad meant something."

Wraith didn't say anything. He simply passed his half empty canteen to his friend. Though the faintest of smiles could be seen on his face. Comic mumbled a quiet 'thank you' before chugging what remained of the water inside of it.

"It's my shift on watch. Gonna tell Silver to go have a nap, which you should also get." Wraith stood up with a slight groan. "We can't have you being all depressed in the morning when we get to Freeside, eh? We all know what you're like when you don't get your beauty sleep. Cranky ass bitch."

Comic couldn't help but snort.

"Goodnight Comic."

"Goodnight Wraith."

Six really wanted to stay in bed. Rare were the times she was outside of the Strip and got to sleep in a bed, and rarer were those when she had some actual good shut eye. Her left arm was numb though, and it felt like there was a huge weight over it, but ultimately unimportant to her rest. However, the sticky and wet tongue mercilessly tickling her face for the past ten seconds has proven to be a stronger foe than the most skilled Legion assassin.

She groggily opened her eyes and, sure enough, was met with a half dog, half cyborg creature standing right on top of her. Rex's tail wiggled relentlessly as he looked straight into Six's eyes then glanced at the door, letting out a quiet whimper in between.

Her sweet sleep interrupted, all because the dog needed to go take a shit.

Instead of fighting the current, Six obliged the cyberdog's needs. She sat up -having to pry her left arm from the clutches of Ruby's entire body weight in the process- and opened the door of the apartment. Rex full on sprinted down the stairs and disappeared from Six's sight to undergo his daily needs.

Six went back inside the apartment to grab her pip-boy. The rest of the gear could wait really since there was no rush. Plus, the only things she'd taken off to sleep were the trenchcoat and armor above the waist, so most of her gear was already on her anyway. She fished through her pockets to retrieve a pack of cigarettes and lit her first cig of the day.

She closed the door to the apartment, letting Ruby sleep for a while longer, Six leaned on the railing and glanced at the other apartments below. It was still early, so most of Novac's citizenry were still fast asleep, early enough in fact, that the breeze was still cool and not scorching hot. Everything was just so quiet. Oh how she wished Vegas was like that sometimes. All that noise and ruckus could really be a mood killer at times.

She glanced at the Dinky the Dinosaur statue and a certain disgruntled former First-Recon sniper she met there months ago came to mind. "Wonder what he's up to today." She mumbled. In truth, rare were the times her companions actually stayed in the Lucky 38. more often than not they'd leave to go do whatever it was they wanted. For Boone? Perching on a hill and shooting legionnaires from a distance, more often than not.

Something caught Six's attention midway through her smoke. A collection of musical notes traveling through the air, originated from a string instrument by the sound of it -probably a guitar if she had to guess. Six descended the stairs out of the motel, curious as to who had decided to set up shop, in Novac of all places, to play some old tunes.

Right by the motel's entrance, by the abandoned gas station that sat in front of its gate, a man in an old duster and a hat much akin to those of town sheriffs, playing an acoustic guitar and singing what essentially was "Streets of Laredo" but with different lyrics. Given it was still rather early in the morning, no crowd nor interested person watched and listened to the man's playing. Besides Six of course.

"But early to be playing isn't it? Especially when everyone's still barely awake." Six said as the man finished his song.

"It ain't about the crowds, friend. It's about just playing to my heart's content when I feel like it. It's, what's the word I'm looking for…liberating, in a sense."

A small smile grew in the corners of Six's face. "I feel ya. Music has a way to transcend words sometimes. Say, that's a mighty fine guitar you got there."

"Oh, this old thang?" The man chuckled. "Thanks friend. This here guee-tar is about the only thing my daddy left me."

The smile disappeared. "Sorry to hear that. Have you been playing long?"

"Just about my whole life, ever since my daddy left me and ma and went off to roam the wastes."

"Damn." Six flicked off her cigarette as it had reached its end and lit up another one. "When did he leave? If you don't mind me askin'."

"I don't mind." He shrugged." He left a long time ago really. Never even knew him."

"I guess that's better than 'em leaving when you're older." Six blew out a puff of smoke. "Say, your accent. It sounds, hum-" she scratched her temples. "Northwest? You from the 'ol Dakotas?"

The man smiled but shook his head. "Close. Montana, actually."

"Montana? Shit man, haven't been there in years. Where you from?"

"Just some no-interest coal mining town named Kingsley. Doubt you know it."

"Can't say I do. Is it in the Consortium's territory? Are those guys still in charge?"

"They were last time I was there years ago. But before I left some people in power armor showed up and started setting up shop. Maybe they own the place now." He shrugged. "What was you doing in Montana anyways? You sound native, so why was a Nevadan up there?"

Six smirked. A flash of a masked woman came into her mind, as she and that woman celebrated over drinks. "Bounty-hunting. Originally it was just a couriering job. But got roped up into some shenanigans over there with the Consortium and the local Cattle Families. Wasn't there long though, we only stayed about a week or two before we came back down."

"We?" The man cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, hum, y-yeah." Six cringed so hard she wanted to throw herself off of Dinky. "It was me and uh, and a friend. Anyways, what are you doing here down south? Tracking your pa?"

"Maybe. Maybe I just felt like I didn't belong at home."

"Ever thought of just settling down? You'd be able to play your Not-Streets of Laredo to an actual audience."

The man chuckled and scratched his moustache. "Never really thought about it. Have just been on the road too long that the thought of settling down has faded. What place would even take a Lonesome Drifter like myself?"

"Well-" Six leaned in "I happen to hear the Tops Casino is hiring new talents. And I just so happen to know a person who's scouting for them."

The Drifter let out a dry chuckle. "Isn't that convenient?"

The Courier shrugged. "It's good money."

"It ain't always about the money, friend. Is it a good place t'be?"

"Depends on who you ask."

The Drifter hummed and scratched his chin. After a few seconds of silence he spoke once more. "Say friend, are you musically inclined?"

"As much as the next person I suppose." She shrugged.

"No, no you got something 'bout yourself. A certain aura if you catch my drift. Hmm, probably not an instrument…Do you sing perchance?"

Six's eyes widened slightly and she took a step back." How did you…"

"Like I said. Been doing this for a looong time."

"Regardless, I haven't sung in a long while. Plus, I've never did it for an audience. A-And I'm not good."

The Drifter smirked and stood up. "Don't need you to be. Sing a song with me, and I'll take the job."

Six scoffed. "What is this? A fuckin' musical?" The Drifter shrugged. Six rapidly tapped her foot and looked back at the motel, then back at the Drifter and sighed. "Know any Jerry Burnham?"

When Ruby finally woke up she realized she was alone in the bed. Neither Six nor Rex were in the motel suite.

"Where did those two go?" She mumbled to herself, still half asleep. She took a glance at the clock on the bedside table, 8:32. Not that early, but not that late. She put on her clothes and slung her cape around her neck and took a quick glance at the mirror in the bathroom to adjust her hat.

"One month." She said to her reflection in the mirror. "I've been in this place for over a month." It was…complicated to not think about home, though Ruby tried her damndest to not spare a thought about Remnant, about Yang and Dad and Uncle Qrow.

She slapped her cheeks twice, forcefully snapping herself from this dangerous train of thought. She had a mission! She needed to find that fourth talent for Mr. Torini if it was the last thing she'll do.

"Alright! Let's look around town for anything interesting and if nothing comes up, we'll search Vegas inside and out for a worthy, mesmerizing talent for the Tops!" She fistpumped the air and left the small apartment.

Not a millisecond went by before a most curious sound reached Ruby's ears. Was that…singing? And a guitar?! Had the Gods blessed Ruby with an early end to her quest?!

She rushed down the stairs and walked out of the motel's premises, and there by the abandoned gas station's entrance, a decently large town -for Novac's standards- had formed around the to-be-yet-scouted talents. Now that she was closer, Ruby could hear it more clearly, a husky yet soothing voice of a man and a heartfelt strumming of guitar strings. And then, like a freight train of good luck hitting Ruby, a second voice rang out. A woman's voice, soft and warm. She did sound a bit less powerful, but still really good!

"BARK!"

The sudden bark of Rex snapped Ruby out of the performance that so easily enraptured her, and made her realize Rex was next to her.

"When did you show up boy?" She scratched his head. "Let's go find our future big stars! " Rex barked once again and followed Ruby as the two pushed through the crowd to the front.

Ruby Rose, who has defied all laws of reason and got herself transported into another world, in her entire thirteen years of life had never been so surprised, awestruck, dumbfounded and all related emotions, before this precise moment. All of her experiences paled in comparison to the scene before her. Six, Courier Six, Miss Grumpypants, was singing next to a cowboy-looking guy with the most stereotypical biker mustache to ever exist.

Ruby has never pulled out her scroll faster and hit record in her entire life.

It had been few the times Ruby had made use of her scroll over the past month. It's not like there were chargers just lying about for a completely foreign technology. So, she'd only used it to take pictures of important events like her selfie with Cass and Veronica in the Ultra-Luxe, or looking at her -albeit few- old photos of her and her family. And there was that one time she showed Boone a collection of cat videos she had saved. She could've sworn that man laughed. All and all, her scroll was sitting at a decent 62% battery charge and could last a long while if she was smart about it. But this was definitely worth losing battery over.

As the duo went on with the song, Six's voice noticeably got louder, like she was breaking out of her shell and becoming more comfortable with everyone around. The Courier was by no means sounded like a professional, her voice would crack at certain high notes, or she'd be slightly off-key, but just enough it didn't sound bad by any standards. When it came to it, it was a beautiful rendition of Let's Ride Into The Sunset Together . So when the duo finally ended, the crowd erupted into clapping and cheering, even throwing some caps inside an empty rusted-out can by the Drifter.

The crowd quickly dispersed thereafter as the citizens of Novac returned to their daily routines. Only Ruby and Rex stayed by, with the former immediately rushing Six.

"Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods Six! That was so beautiful! I didn't know you sang so well!"

"I wasn't that good. He did all the heavy lifting." Six responded somewhat meekly and pointed with her thumb at the Drifter.

"What?! Are you crazy?! You were great!"

"BARK!"

"See? Even Rex agrees!"

Six's cheeks started to flush as she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, unable to speak up a coherent response. "I…guess it was pretty…cool." She finally managed to blurt out before turning to the Drifter. "I up held my end of the deal."

The Drifter smiled. "Yes you did. I'll take the job for that casino."

"Great. Ruby, give him the card."

Ruby rapidly looked between the two adults. "Wait what?"

The Drifter chuckled. "Well you see kid, your here pal Six told me the Tops were hirin'. So we worked out a little deal. You can take what you just heard as my demo."

Ruby's eyes shun like stars and she handed the man her last card given to her by Mr. Torini. "With a voice like yours I'm sure Mr. Torini will be more than happy to have you!"

The Drifter took the card and smiled at the teen. "Thank you miss. I'll make my way to Vegas in a bit. Still have to stock up on supplies before I make the trek. Oh, and Six?" He slung the guitar around his shoulder and reached for something inside his duster's inner pocket. "I suppose I won't be needin' this no more." He pulled out an extremely well kept .44 revolver with a pearly white ivory handle and flowery engravings all along the metal frame and handed it to the Courier.

"I-I…thanks."

"It was my daddy's. The other thang he left me." He smirked. "If you ever find him, give him a good wack for me."

Six smiled. "Sure thing." She tucked the revolver inside her pants and turned to Ruby. "Ready to go back home?"

"Yes ma'am!" She excitedly saluted her.

The Courier ruffled Ruby's hair. "Lemme go grab my stuff. We'll be on the road in ten."

True to her word, Six was quick to put on the rest of her gear and buy a few supplies they needed to make the trek back to the Strip and they quickly found themselves back on the familiar I-95.

A couple hours of walking went by and Novac had already disappeared in horizon, with the Helios One power plant soon to follow.

"That's Helios One right?" Ruby asked, side eyeing the large building.

"That's what the big ass sign on the roof says."

Ruby gave Six a deadpan stare before continuing. "Point is, if the NCR have Hoover dam, why do they need the power from Helios?"

"They don't. The NCR has a boner for taking other people's shit and giving barely nothing in return." Six scoffed. "It's not like they're getting a lot of electricity from that place though."

"What do you mean?"

"They put an idiot who doesn't know anything about what he's doing in charge."

"Wha-Why? How?"

Six sighed. "Because, unfortunately, some people know how to bullshit their way into anything."

"That's not right. People with actual skills should be doing their jobs. Doesn't the NCR see that?" Six simply shrugged.

Ruby didn't have much time to ruminate on the nepotism and corruption that plagued the NCR, because she spotted a man in pain further down rocking back and forth the road grabbing his leg.

"Six look!" Ruby tugged on the Courier's trench coat.

Six didn't take another step. She examined the injured man that was about 50 fifty feet from them, right next to a couple rock formations. Just as Ruby was about to make a run for the man, she grabbed the teen's shoulder.

Ruby furrowed her brows. "What? That guy needs help!"

"What do you see?" Ruby responded with a confused look. "Don't focus on just him. What's around him?"

"Uhhh…there's a couple rocks, like big ones…There's a decrease in elevation to the left just as the road turns and there's a hill a couple dozen feet out behind him?" She looked back at the Courier.

"Yes. Now, the closest settlement is five miles out, so we're essentially in the middle of nowhere and this road isn't well patrolled by the NCR. What would these places you've just listed be good for?"

Ruby squinted her eyes and hummed. "A trap?" She finally answered.

"Exactly. A sniper could be perched on that hill, and we could get surrounded if people hid in the elevation and behind the rocks."

"So you're saying it's a trap?

"It could be. So what do we gotta be?"

"Extra careful."

"Attagirl." Six nodded, pulling out That Gun and Chopper. Ruby did the same, drawing Lucky and her trusty combat knife.

The three slowly approached the wailing man, all three on high alert to immediately deal with any hiding raiders wanting to strike an easy hit. As they reached the man, they realized he was indeed bleeding and he was in rough shape.

"Can you help him?"

Six crouched down next to the man. He had been beaten to a pulp and with a gunshot in the thigh, he wouldn't make it if they didn't help him. "I can help him." She set down her weapons and reached for her sack, pulling out a sewing kit and a stimpak.

"A sewing kit?"

"It's great to stitch up wounds, plus it's a good way to keep all my medical shit in one place." She pulled out a pair of tweezers and started pulling the bullet from the man's thigh. "You're lucky we got here when we did. Otherwise you would've died."

The man mumbled out something.

"What was that?" Six leaned in closer.

Weakly, the man also leaned in, and whispered. "Take your dirty barbarian hands off me, profligate."

At that moment, Rex began to growl. Six's eyes widened and she pulled back, grabbing That Gun and whipped around. Legionnaires appeared from behind the rocks, others from the incline and even from the dam ground like they were straight out of a pre-war horror movie. Two of them instantly grabbed Ruby and pressed her against the ground, while another pair subdued Rex. To put salt on the injury, she heard the hammer of a pistol behind her cocked and pressed against the back of her helmet.

Over a dozen legionnaires were encircling her, Ruby and Rex

How could've she been so stupid?! So FUCKING careless?!

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the famed Courier Six." A smiley, snakey voice rang out from behind the Legionnaires that'd just come from the rocks. Six turned to see a rather tall Legionnaire with a coyote hood and a pair of dark goggles over his eyes. Though what drew most attention to Six, was the tattoo on the man's forearm. A black hand with an eye in the middle. The mark of the Frumentarii, the Legion's spy corp.

The man slithered through the crowd like a snake, his mere presence invoked a sense of…just…wrongness to Six. He finally stood in front of her and crouched down to meet her gaze. He pulled out his goggles, revealing a pair of bright, pearly blue eyes.

"If you're gonna kill me just go ahead and do it."

The man let out a low chuckle. "How I wish I could. The one time we manage to subdue you, I'm ordered not to kill you. How ironic, isn't it?"

"Leave her alone!" Ruby shouted.

"Ah." He turned to Ruby. "You must be the witch I heard of. Ruby Rose, right?"

"Don't you dare touch her." Six growled.

"Oh, do not fret. Like I said, I'm not here to harm any of you. I am merely here, to bring the Mighty Imperator Caesar, his guests of honor."

Six stared at the frumentarii agent for a long second. "...What?"

"Despite the crimes against his great Legion, Caesar has seen fit to bring you before him in Fortification Hill. Do not ask me why, because I have been asking myself this question for the past three days. Now, be a good woman and do like you're told. Or the witch gets it."

Top hammer his point, one of the legionnaires that was holding down Ruby pulled out a knife and brushed it against her neck.

"OKAY! Okay!...Okay. I'll go. Just don't her."

The man smiled. "Perfect." He gestured to his men. "Collect their weapons."

"Yes Lord Vulpes!" All of them said in unison before stripping both Ruby and Six of all their weapons.

As the legionnaires moved away from Six and momentarily released Rex to put a binding on him, Six threw herself at the legionnaires, knocking them down. "RUN BOY!" She shouted at Rex who immediately took to a sprint.

Several of the legionnaires raised their weapons and aimed to fire at the fleeing cyberdog but Vulpes raised his hand. "Let him go. It doesn't matter. We already have what we want. Just get her up and ready to move out."

"And you," Heturned to the injured legionnaire, drawing his sidearm. "you have served the Imperator well." The legionnaire bowed his head, then a shot rang out and he fell flat on the floor, dead. "Let's move out."

The sun had already sunked below the horizon several hours before the group had made it to Cottonwood Cove, but even in the dead of night, the Legion outpost across the Colorado was bustling with life from its soldiers and worker slaves. As they walked through the camp, many of the soldiers and slaves stopped in their tracks to ogle, almost in awe, at the prisoners being brought in by none other than Lord Vulpes Inculta himself.

As they drew ever closer to the dock, another group of legionnaires approached them. A smaller collection of five altogether, of mostly decani and one centurion.

"Ave, Lord Vulpes." Centurion spoke, making a curt bow. "I see your hunt was successful. Though it escapes me why the Imperator would require a known enemy of the Legion alive."

"It is not our place to question our Imperator's wisdom, Aurelius. We simply do as we're ordered."

"Indeed we do. By the way, we've killed the remainder of the profligates that survived the initial bombing in Searchlight. We have clear passage. I suggest we–"

"Aurelius?" Interrupting, the emotionless glowing red lenses of her helmet were all bore holes into the centurion's head. "As in, Centurion Aurelius of Phoenix?"

Aurelius sneered. "How dare you interrupt me profligate? But yes, that is me. Why? Do you recognise me? Is that it?"

"How could I not?" Six responded with a cold neutral tone. "You were behind the rebellion in Phoenix in seventy-five. Deliberately leaving armories lightly defended and ramp up oppression to force an uprising. I suppose that's a way to get rid of any remaining dissenters. Not only that, but you were one of the key figures behind the success of its siege in seventy-one."

The centurion smirked. "Yes, that's right. It was my plan that conquered us the city and routed the pitiful Desert Rangers. Or what remained of them anyway. But then again, they were the last worthy adversaries we've had." He took a step closer to Six. "Lord Vulpes, may I see the face of the profligate that has caused so many headaches to our great Legion?"

Vulpes sighed. "By all means, it's like I'm on a schedule or anything."

"Don't worry, it will only take a moment." Aurelius gestured to one of the legionnaires to remove Six's helmet, revealing a woman with a pair of cold yellow amber eyes and orange hair tied in a sleek low bun. "So this is the face of Courier Six." Aurelius mocked. "A hag that in truth is nothing better than a cocksleeve. A bit too ripe if you ask me." He laughed.

Six mumbled something that not even Ruby who was next to her could hear.

"What was that?" Aurelius took another step closer to her.

"Careful Aurelius. She's a wild one."

"What can she even do, Vulpes? Her hands are tied. Besides, I just want to know what she's mumbling on about." As he took his third and final step towards Six, Aurelius didn't even have time to react as Six's head collided with his nose, shattering the bone.

Aurelius recoiled in pain, screaming out loud as he reached for his broken nose. "Y-YOU FUCKING WHORE!" He slapped Six with the metal part of his gloves. Yet the Courier did not fall down, only slightly staggering back.

Six regained her composure not a second after and spitted out some blood before meeting Aurelius' eyes once more. "Y'know? For someone that talks down to women so much like you do, you hit like a bitch."

Aurelius' eyes burned with fiery rage, but before he could do anything else, Vulpes interfered. "That's enough Aurelius. I have a schedule to meet." Vulpes motioned his men to continue on marching and board the boats at the dock. Leaving Aurelius to angrily waddle back to his building. Six couldn't but smirk at the centurion.

The boat ride to Fortification Hill added on another hour of deafening silence to the journey, not even the legionnaires dared to speak. When they made port on the other side of the river, Ruby's eyes widened with horrified awe. Hundreds, if not thousands of red tents spread along the base of the hill, organized in neat rows. An uncountable horde of legionnaires went about their duties and an even bigger number of slaves littered the war camp.

Even Six couldn't help but stare.

"This is the true might of the Legion profligates." Vulpes said proudly with a smile.

"Thousands of soldiers taken from the Sonoran Desert to the Rockies in Colorado. No matter how many you slay Courier, we can always make pluck more."

Vulpes stared down Six, his crystal blue eyes shining the same color as the full moon above them. His smile had turned to a wide malicious grin. "The Legion's cohorts are endless. Your bullets are not."

Six rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Leave the propaganda to someone who actually believes it."

Vulpes' grin faded, replaced by a look of sheer annoyance. "Speak all you want profligate. It doesn't change the truth."

Vulpes gestured to his men and they continued ascending through the war camp, metaphorically and physically rising to the top, until they reached a walled off section of the camp. The inner palisade, where the highest ranking and most elite members of the Legion involved in this campaign dwelled. In other words, a camp within a camp.

Vulpes' entourage ignored most of the camp, making way directly to the highest point of the entirety of Fortification Hill, where a large tent guarded by none other than the praetorian guard had been erected. Of the entire group, only Vulpes and the two 'guests' entered the tent. There, more praetorians and their hounds stood guard, each with a differently customized ballistic fist and their armored Legion hounds. And at the end of the tent, sitting at his throne fashioned out of the rarest and most sought after materiaçs and pelts of all corners of the Legion, sat the Conqueror of the 86 tribes, the Imperator of Rome Reborn, the Caesar of the Legion and former Follower of the Apocalypse, Edward Sallow.

"You're guests, as you ordered my Lord." Vulpes bowed to Caesar, handed him something and took his place at the left of his throne.

Caesar stood quiet for a moment, eyeing both Ruby and Six before he spoke. "So you're the Courier who has caused so much trouble for my Legion. You've killed dozens, if not hundreds of my legionaries, you've halted our assaults from Nelson, disrupted a promising weapons deal with the Van Graffs and survived more of my assassins than anyone else. Yet you stand here before me now, because all it took was to point a gun at Little Red Riding Hood over there."

Six scowled under her helmet but said nothing.

"I could easily have you killed and rid my Legion of this very annoying thorn once and for all. But I won't. Do you know why I want you alive? A man nearly kills you, so you track him across the breadth of the Mojave? You arrive at the Strip and waltz into the Lucky Thirty Eight like someone left you a key under the doormat? You assassinate the head of the Chairmen in his own casino and get away with it? And then something happens to Mr. House's robots, some kind of military upgrade? Point is, when you set your mind to something, you get results. I like that. So, I expect you to continue getting results."

Six was completely silent for a moment. Then she started snickering, then quietly chuckling, until it evolved into a hearty hysterical laugh. The praetorians looked at each other, confused by the sudden outburst of laughter. Even Caesar and Vulpes didn't look like they expected the Courier to randomly start cackling.

A few seconds after, her laugh died down. "Oh man - hahaha - that, that hit me way harder than it should have. Like, holy shit. I knew you were insane, but you are dumber than a molerat." Not a second after Six was done speaking, everyone inside the tent minus Caesar was with their weapons drawn, ready to kill the Courier in an instant. Caesar on the other hand, remained stoic.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THE MIGHTY CAESAR THAT WAY?!" Lucius, the head of the praetorian guard and right hand man of Caesar shouted.

"What makes you think I'd even consider working for you?" She asked, completely ignoring the angry praetorians.

"Have you forgotten the reason why you're here in the first place? You allowed yourself to be captured because you didn't want the kid to get hurt. And you'll do as I order you because you don't want the kid to die." Six's smirk faded. "I don't give two shits if you're doing this because you 'like' my Legion. You're going to do it because you don't want someone you care about to die. It's pathetic."

Six clenched her fists so hard her knuckles went white under her gloves.

Caesar reached for a pocket inside his armor and retrieved a small poker chip of platinum color and with the symbol of the Lucky 38 etched on each side. "Vulpes took this from you. Here in the Fort, there's what I think is a bunker and it has the same symbol. So, you two will go down there and destroy everything inside. Understood?"

Six wanted to steal one of the guards' weapons and beat this fucked to death with him. She wanted to crucify him like he ordered others to do so. Courier Six just wanted, fucking craved to kill Sallow in the most painful and horrifying way known to Man. "...yes."

"Yes, what?" Caesar couldn't contain his smile as he leaned in on his throne.

"...yes my Caesar."

"Good, now get the fuck out of my sight. Vulpes, escort them to the weather station." Caesar waved them off, handing Vulpes the Platinum Chip who then promptly bowed to his lord and took Six and Ruby outside.

Ruby tugged on Six's duster, her face contorted with worry. "Six, are you okay?"

Six sighed. "I'm fine Ruby. Let's…let's just get this over with."

On their way to the weather station Vulpes led them through what looked like the slave pens. Men, women and children of all ages hauling packs twice their size back and forth, being tied to poles and lashed, or simply put in the smallest possible cages.

Ruby could barely take her eyes off the ground the entire time. She'd heard of what the Legion did, but a small part of her thought, hoped that these were all exaggerations meant to scare her. These people were monsters, monsters who thought they were right by doing. She'd even close her eyes shut and try really hard to not listen to the comments some of the legionnaires made when they passed by.

She just wanted to go home.

The straw that ended up breaking the camel's back was when she saw a legionnaire with a mohawk about to whip, a little girl who was standing over an older lady and a young man.

Ruby's body and mouth moved before she could even think. "Leave her alone! She's just a kid!"

The legionnaire halted his swing, turning to look at Ruby with a sneer. "Who do you think you are to talk to me, much less give me orders, girl?! Maybe I should whip you instead to teach you some fucking manners!" The legionnaire raised his arm preparing to whip Ruby before second thought. However, the fist that collided with his jaw and sent crashing to the ground prevented that.

Before the legionnaire could react any further, Six pressed her boot against his neck and her glowing red glare drilled into the legionnaire's one. "If you so much as touch a single hair on her head, I will hang you with your own guts. Understood?" The legionnaire nodded meekly.

It had been a while since Ruby had seen Six's Terrifying Presence. It was in these moments she saw how scary the Courier could actually be.

Six took her boot off the legionnaire, allowing him to breathe again. She immediately got down on one knee and put her hands on both Ruby's shoulders. "You okay? Don't do something so reckless like that again."

Ruby nodded. "I'm okay. I'm more worried about them." She gestured to the three slaves behind them.

The little girl who had been about to be hit was not being held by the woman who was sitting down leaning against a fence pole. "You shouldn't have done that." The woman said "Now she's going to get a worse lashing later."

"But I couldn't not do anything." Ruby protested. "I just-"

"Wanted to help? You're just making things worse." The slave woman moved her leg and immediately grunted painfully.

"Stella, I told you to not make sudden movements!" The young man berated her, checking on her leg.

"Fuck off Andrews." Stella waved Andrews off.

"Are you okay Stella?" The little asked, tugging on the woman's rags.

"I'm okay Melody, you don't have to worry."

"I take my eyes off of you for two seconds and you've already started trouble. That must be a record." Vulpes sarcastically remarked as he walked up to the scene, before stopping at the still wheezing legionnaire. "Houndmaster, what happened here."

The Houndmaster composed himself and stood up. "Lord Vulpes, I was about to slash one of the slaves and the child has the gaul to stop me. So when I went to lash her for carelessly addressing me, that BITCH ranger there clocked me in the jaw."

Vulpes sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I see leave. Go back to your duties Houndmaster. I will handle this." The Houndmaster bowed to the head of the frumentarii and took his leave. Vulpes turned back to the group and as soon as he registered a certain someone amongst them, his frown turned into a grin. "So, Stella, how's the leg?"

Ruby noticed how the woman's glare turned into one laced with both unbridled rage, but deathly terrified at the same time.

"You know her?" Ruby was the first to ask.

"Of course I do, she's one of my personal slaves. And even if she wasn't, she's quite the gladiator in the arena. Aren't you?" Stella looked down.

"Then why is she here?" Six asked, standing back up. "Personal slaves stay in the officer's tent, do they not?"

"For most cases, yes. But she's rowdy, so she works until she learns manners. Besides, it's not everyday we catch a ranger before they kill themselves. Do we?"

"She's a ranger?" Six said almost in disbelief.

"Yes, yes. We captured her a couple months ago and she was given to me as a prize for a job well done at Searchlight." Vulpes' demeanor turned back to his serious stoic look and eyed the little girl. "I will inform the Houndmaster of your punishment later."

"Why is she being punished? What did she even do?" Ruby asked, horrified at Vulpes' decision.

"If the Houndmaster had a reason to lash her, he had a reason. Simple as." He turned back to the slaves. "You all go back to work." Stella stood up with much difficulty, needing to lean on Andrews to even stand. Melody tried to help the best she could, but there was little a small child like her could do to help.

"The woman obviously has a broken leg." Six spoke up.

"So? She can't walk, she'll crawl." Vulpes responded coldly. "We've wasted enough time as it is, you have a task to complete." Vulpes started to walk off.

Ruby flashed Six a sad look, essentially pleading her to do something. But deep down, she knew nothing could be done. With her head hung low, she followed after Vulpes.

"How much?" Six spoke once again, almost shouting.

"Come again?" Vulpes turned back, raising an eyebrow.

"They're slaves. Slaves are property, property can be bought. So how much?"

Vulpes started laughing. "Oh Mars, you are serious. Why would I do such a thing? Eh? Nevermind the fact that a lowly woman like yourself isn't even allowed to own anything in the Legion." He walked up to the two adult slaves and grabbed each of their shoulders. "You see, Medic here is growing quite popular with some of the men. And Stella here, well she provides great entertainment both in and out of the arena. You her…" He looked at Melody. "What's your name child?"

"M-M-Melody…"

"There's some centurions who've exhibited great ability during this campaign, and Melody would be perfect as a reward consort to one of them." Vulpes' twisted smile grew. "So I ask again, why should I even humor this?"

"...I'll fight. If the problem is entertainment, I'll fight in the arena. Whoever you want."

Vulpes raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by the idea. "And how would I benefit from this?"

"Simple. You obviously disagree with Caesar employing me. If I lose, you won't have to worry about that." Six reasoned.

"Six what are you doing?!" Ruby whispered.

Vulpes stayed silent for a moment, mulling over the proposition. "If you do die, it would mean you're not useful to the Imperator…" He mumbled. "Alright. After you complete your task, you will fight in the pits against whoever I choose. You may wear no weapons or armor. If you lose, well, you die. If you win, you can have those three slaves. Those are my terms."

"Deal." Six responded without hesitation.

"Perfect. You go back to your cells, your wannabe saviors have a task to complete." Vulpes let go of the slaves and walked off to the weather station with Six and Ruby in tow.

"Six what was that?" Ruby really didn't know if she was more angry or worried about the deal Six had just made.

"Something very reckless."

Upon entering the weather station at the edge of the fort, the duo were given back their weapons by the praetorians standing guard. Luckily for Ruby and Six, this was as far as Vulpes was allowed to -and wanted to- go. And with a flick of the chip back to Six, he unceremoniously left the station, going back to whatever duties he had.

Just like Caesar had mentioned, the console in the station had a hole just the size of the chip and with the symbol of the 38. The station's ground creaked with the chip's insertion, opening an old latch that led to the depths below. And with nothing else to do, the Courier and Ruby descend down the steps and into the facility proper.

As you can see, I am not dead. Greetings and salutations everyone. Sorry been gone for over the normal time. Went on vacation with the family and welp, writer's bloc is a tough nut to crack at times. But fret not! We will be back to our regular schedule programing!...hopefully.

Y'see, the next chapter will actually come soon-ish, as this one was divided into 2 as to not be 15k words long. So if my calculations are correct, our 2nd arc will end in 2 chapters (not counting this one).

Also I've come to realise I have never told y'all Six's weapons and SPECIAL stats, so if y'all want I'll put 'em in the end of next chapter.

Until next time!