Blogs - Anti_Griefer_666

Part 28: Evil’s Last Stand

Without even thinking, or knowing about the layout of the building, I quickly took cover
behind the room’s door, and peered around to look for bandits. It came as no surprise
when I spotted two of them, racing towards the sound of broken glass. This wasn’t
good, and I was the only person to have broken that particular window; I was in
it alone. My rifle was mostly good for picking enemies off at a distance, it
was no use in such close quarters. Luckily, I had my pistol with me, and I blind
fired around the corner, the thin wooden protection that the door offered me
was barely enough to keep me alive, from the hailstorm of bullets that they had
shot towards me. When my clip was empty, two men lay dead, walls had been
coated red, and the door practically fell off it’s hinges from the shots; I was
getting way too lucky for my own good.

I crept slowly down the hallway, gun armed and reloaded, with an itchy trigger
finger just waiting to dispense lead to some unsuspecting villainous felon. I came
to a split section on the second floor, and finally saw my reinforcements. A good
number of the townsfolk had joined me, and since they knew the building well, we
all marched down a narrow corridor, to where the stairs were. This place had
seen better days.

We passed rooms with boarded up doors, derelict rooms, covered from head to toe
with spider webs, and cockroaches pouring out of every crevice; I was getting
the shudders just being near this place. I kept close to the group, until they
stopped at a dead end. I was confused what they were doing, until one of them
crouched by it, and placed down an explosive charge. He asked for everyone to
stay back and take cover, which they all did. It didn’t take long for my ears
to ring, as the chunk of wall was blasted into oblivion. Once the dust settled,
I looked around to see a gaping hole, cracking the foundation, and covering the
ground in rubble. Peering through, I could see a dark, dingy room, the remains
of a once cheerful and comforting guest room. I stood aside, as floods of them
passed through the door, and charged into action. I stepped through as one of
the last, and heard gunfire exchanged in all directions. I made sure that the
left side was safe, and darted for a nearby pillar to cover me. Two men came
around the corner, and I dished out a taste of wasteland justice upon them.

The gunfire began to die down, and one of the locals signalled for me to follow
him. After a couple of sharp turns, showing the bloodbath that had just ended, he
led me back to the group. They had all gathered around a reinforced service
door, with a small rectangular window in the middle, covered in dirt. A man
stepped forward from the group, wiped the dirt from it, and d through. A quarter
of a second later, his lifeless corpse flew backwards, with a firm bullethole
through his eye, still smoking with embers from the hot lead; they were just
meters away from us behind the door.

I told everyone to stand back, opened the door a fraction of an inch, and tossed
a grenade through. Seconds later, the last piercing scream of a vile man filled
the halls, and died down; justice for the innocent resident he had just
murdered. I slowly opened the door, and the townsfolk all pointed their guns
around the corner, ready to fire on anything that moved. What greeted them was
the lifeless corpses of the bandits, already killed by the group that had came
in through the kitchen. The left was lousy with bodies, but the right wasn’t as
populated, so the group split up, and headed through that way.

Already busy behind cover, Nash and the survivors of the downstairs group had taken position
behind a thick wall. On the other side lay the dining room of the place, tables
knocked over and used as protection for the bandits. There were two doorways
in, and Nash’s group were separated into two equal groups covering them, with
Nash running between the sides, offering assistance and ideas. I called out to
him, and he turned to see me.

“Oh great, it’s about time you showed up.” Nash said in a hurry. “We don’t have
much time. It looks like this is their last stand. Now that you’re here, I’ll
take my group to the left side, and you take the right.”

Nash drew his men from the right side over to the left, and I and the group following
me took the right. I took a quick squint around the corner, seeing tables
knocked over, and a couple of heads poking over the top; not a good time to be
tall. I had a plan, and called for Nash to deliver it.

“Got a plan?” Nash asked me.

“A rough idea, if you can pull it off. Your group open fire, and keep firing, to make sure they stay behind cover,
then my group will come around the other side and flank them, while they’re being
suppressed.” I responded, not sure if it would actually work with our fairly
small group, and with no idea how many of them there were.

“That’s a brilliant plan. I’ll make sure my side knows what to do. Just give me the
signal when you’re ready.” He said, and crept back to his group. Now all I had
to do was tell the side I was on what the plan was, and signal Nash when I was
ready. I waited for a moment that seemed right, and gave him a wave. The sound
of gunfire ripped through the room, as his group suppressed the enemy into
staying firmly behind cover. I didn’t have a whole lot of time before they would
run out of ammo, so I moved in and threw myself behind the enemies cover. It came
as a surprise to them, when they turned to me and found themselves with a
faceful of lead. I shouted for Nash to stop, and stood up, taking a moment to
look behind me, and see the room smoking from all the brand new holes.

The floor was littered with shell casings, blood and corpses. I was beginning to
feel a little a sick, considering we’ve covered this casino with organs and
bullet holes, that would take forever to clean. With the smoke clearing, I could
see from the corner of my eye, a man slouched over, in the kitchen. Getting closer,
I could make out that he had his hands behind his back, and did not appearing
to be moving. It didn’t take long before I reached the kitchen and saw Deputy
Beagle, lying face down, and making me feel as if we had failed to save him.

Part 27: A Heroes Reward

Standing still, with hands up and blood pouring from Arcane’s knee, we came face to face
with several of the residents, all sporting their firearms. One old man seemed
to stand out from the rest, and I assumed he was the leader. He motioned with
his fingers, to which two of the residents walked outside and inspected the
area, seeing that we had killed all of the bandits who had kept them imprisoned
in the casino. After they had checked it out, they nodded to him, and they
lowered their weapons. They shut the door behind us, and the old man came
steadily towards us. With his wrinkled skin, dusty dungarees and two goggles
fastened firmly around his neck, he seemed like an old farmer, more than a
citygoer.

“Don’t know what brought you to Primm, youngster, but you might want to rethink your
plans. Town’s gone to hell.” He said in a texas drawl. “Don’t know how you
killed the bandits, but it’s a hell of a favour to us.”

To the side of me I heard a groan, and remembered that Arcane had a serious
injury. His blood soaked pants were now beginning to drip onto the casino’s
hardwood flooring.

“Can you get my friend here some medical attention?” I asked.

“Just..get me to some medical supplies, I’m a doctor; I can fix myself.” Arcane added.

A few of them took Arcane by the shoulder and carried him off into an adjoining
room. The old man came back to me.

“Johnson Nash’s my name. Husband to Ruby Nash. Lived in Primm going on eight years now,
thick and thin.” He said, giving me some background information on himself.
“Came to town as a traveller once, liked it enough that I decided to settle in.
Got ourselves a small pasture of crops and bighorners; enough to supply the
whole town. Ran into a little trouble a couple of days back, when crazy gun
toting’ lunatics came to town, shooting everything in sight. Those lucky enough
to survive boarded up here in the casino, and we’ve been holding out here ever
since. Looks like you came just in time; we’re almost out of food.”

“Well, it looks safe enough outside. You could probably walk out of here safely.” I
replied.

“You sure did one hell of a job for us, and it won’t go unrewarded. However, the
Bison Steve hotel is probably still swarming with the bastards. You can see it,
just across the road from here.” He answered. “Since you’ve taken the ones
outside, we’ll support you in taking it back. You shouldn’t have to go it alone
after how you’ve helped us.”

“Of course, just give me a moment with Arcane.” I asked, and headed to where Arcane
had been taken. I found him sitting down in the Manager’s office, with various
medical equipment hastily strewn around the desk. He had put a leg brace around
his leg tightly, took a painkiller, and cleaned the area up with some water, as
well as rubbing antibacterial soap onto it.

“How are you doing?” I asked, looking down at him. He didn’t look too concerned,
which was rather surprising, given what he just experienced.

“I’m Good. I can sleep it off, be good as new in a couple weeks.” He replied without
any effort, it was like he wasn’t even concerned about it, but then again, I’m
not a skilled medic. It looked serious, but he’d know how bad it really was.

“It might be, but for now you should stay here and get some rest. I’m going to head
out with some of the townsfolk and get rid of the bandits still hiding in town.
I’ll be back to help you soon.” I said

“Make sure that you come back in one piece.” Arcane retorted.

With Arcane checked on, I headed straight back to Nash, who was still busy planning
our assault on the Bison Steve hotel. Residents donned their haphazard leather
armour, and firmly grasped their assortment of weaponry. Eventually, Nash took a
stand on one of the Casino’s tables and delivered the plan.

“Alright everyone. We know this town like the back of our hand. They’ll be expecting us
from the front door, and they almost certainly heard the commotion outside. Our
best bet is to either break in through the second story windows, or take the
back entrance by the kitchen. I want you to make sure you pay attention to who
you’re shooting at. As you all know, Deputy Beagle is still being held hostage
by them, and we have no idea where they’re keeping him. Now, we plan on
splitting up into two groups; one for each entry point that I mentioned
We don’t know how many of them there are still alive, but I will guarantee that we will
send them a message about invading our town!” he shouted to the crowd that had
formed in front of him.

His words were powerful, and it wasn’t a bad plan to be
honest. With that, the group poured out and surrounded the building, before
splitting into two, to flank them. I decided to join the group who were busy
upstairs.

Before we broke in for good, a little further preparation was done. A few townsfolk
took the time to strip the bodies of the bandits clean, to give them an edge in
the coming battle. They seemed to be armed with lots of dynamite, and ten
millimetre handguns, the kind that the NCR uses commonly.

They were wearing prison guard armour, and it strongly seemed as if they had looted somewhere to
gather all of the equipment, but I was sure I’d understand it all later; right
now I had a different priority to mind. I checked my ammunition supply, and had
two grenades that Arcane hadn’t used, handy at my belt. This was it. I kicked
the dirty glass window, which shattered all over the floor, and stormed in.

Part 26: A Vigilante’s Revenge

Taking my eye from the scope, I crawled to the edge, and whispered to Arcane.
“We were right. Bandits have taken over the town. There’s about 20 of them. What do
you think we should do?” I said, delivering the tough situation to him. He took
a moment to think, and then came back to me.

“Ok, so at the moment, they don’t know where we are. You could probably snipe a
couple before you’re spotted, since you have a silencer. You bought a couple
grenades a long time ago. Still have them?” he asked.

I fumbled into my pockets; which was a pretty stupid idea when dealing with high
explosives, but I fished them out and handed them to him.

“Alright, five grenades. We could probably take everyone out with them, we just need the
right plan. Try to snipe the guards by themselves first, or you’ll alert
everyone. Once they know what’s happening, I’ll chuck a grenade in when they go
for cover. Hopefully they’ll all group up. If they realise where you are, just
get away from the window and find a better position.

You could try and flank them from the sides. I’ll use my pistol if this goes to hell, and one of them
gets too close to me.” He said, and sneaked around to behind where most of the
bandits were. His plan was genius, he must be in the wrong line of work; he’s a
tactician more than a doctor if anything.

Rifle back in hand, I saw about three of them by themselves, who I might be able to
snipe before alarming everyone. I put my hand on the trigger, steadied myself
of the rough window ledge, and fired at a guard busy relieving himself at the
corner of town. Next I scoped in at a guy smoking at the other edge. His brain
matter literally covered the walls, and would have been visible to anyone who
turned in that direction, so I didn’t have much time. The final guy was taking
a nap in a makeshift bed, in the building next to me. I had a clear shot on
him, and made sure the guy didn’t have a good nights rest. Now, everyone I had
to shoot at could clearly see another bandit, so it was up to me and Arcane
working together.

I spotted two guards who had their heads lined up, and fired, causing them to
domino fall onto each other. With that, the advantage was up, as the guards
grabbed for their guns, and scattered for cover. Arcane fired at a few guards
who were too busy caught up with the surprise of my firing, but gave away his
position in doing so. Before he left, he tossed a grenade around the corner,
which blew up a pillar and crushed two guards, and ran off to a ladder at the
back of the building. Surprisingly, they didn’t know where I was, so while they
were flanking Arcane, I fired and took out another guard. Now, they had turned
on me, and I had to find a better position; but the odds were looking much
better, about ten of the original twenty remained.

I crawled into a dumpster behind the guards, and had a perfect opportunity to grenade the guards, but I had given them all to Arcane. I scoped up and saw him on the side of the roof, a perfect place for
a sniper rifle; what an interesting situation. He couldn’t make the distance, and it exploded
in front of the cover the guards were using. They scattered, and I took pot shots
at them from the dumpster, and took two of them out. The remaining guards
dispersed in all directions; not a good situation.

I wanted to get up to where Arcane was, but it looked challenging. One of the
guards fled this way, and he could be hiding anywhere for me, I moved slowly
and saw him looking incredible anxious with his gun, he was shaking and
muttering to himself. Over the sound of his muttering, I sneaked up on him, and
made mincemeat out of his jugular vein, before dragging him out of view, and
dumping his body out of sight. I climbed the ladder and met up with Arcane.

“About seven left, but they could be anywhere.” I told Arcane

“I’ll cover the ladder then, You scope over and look for them.” He said, and we took
our positions. I spotted one hiding behind cover and took him out. Another one
was climbing to a higher vantage point, he fell a good flew stories and cracked
his neck on the concrete, when my bullet fractured his skull.

“Shit!” Arcane screamed. And rolled towards me, as gunfire rattled around the top of
the ladder. “They’ve found us.”

“Throw a grenade at them. Their fire seems to be coming from the west side.”

Arcane chucked a grenade in that direction, and heard two screams simultaneously
erupt. Looking down, I could see nothing but buildings with a new coat of
paint; Red.

“They heard the explosion. Quick! They’re coming from the left side.” He said in a
high voice. I took my scope back to the left, and one of them pulled out a
Rocket launcher. A fucking, Rocket Launcher. I didn’t bother to take my time to
aim, I headed for the ladder as fast as I possibly could.

“Get down Arcane!” I shouted, as a torrent of building fragments flew through the
air, and knocked me into Arcane. He fell a story down, cracked off the side of
the building, and slammed face first into the dirt path beside the ladder. I
managed to get down safely, and got straight to Arcane.

“Ah, Fuck” he yelled. Looking down, he seemed ok, but his leg was hit by a chunk of
shrapnel, and he must have been bruised all over.”

“Shit. It’s not as…bad as it…looks” he troubled himself to say. “Just grab me a
bandage and fight them yourself. I’ll take care of myself until you’re done.

I left him, and took position by the cover the guards were using previously, and
spotted the Rocket Launcher wielding bandit reloading, ready to open fire on
Arcane. I scoped in and made his head explode, rather than his fearsome weapon.

Just four left, and I saw all of them cowering in a corner, peering over at their
dead friends corpses. I scoped in, Arcane chucked a grenade, and shrapnel and
blood splattered the surrounding area. Arcane met up with me, and we both made
our way to the Vicki and Vance casino. Covered in blood, weapons on the ground,
and hands up, we opened the door and saw a gun barrel pointed in our faces.

Part 25: A Wasteland Journey

Back outside, we took one last good luck at Freeside just to see it for the last
time in a while, even though all my memories of it are pain and suffering. We
quickly departed through the East gate and felt a lot safer. With nothing
around us for a long distance, any attacker would have to charge straight at
us. So with that feeling in our chests, we headed in the general direction of
Cottonwood cove; the way into Caesar’s camp.

“Hey Micheal.” Arcane said, looking worried.

“What?” I asked him.

“I’m not certain that joining you was a good idea. We’ve only managed to jump into
extreme danger every step of the way. And now, the Tops want to murder me. What
do you think?” he gave out a chilling, but true opinion on our situation so
far.

“You’re right about that. I’m sorry, truly I am. When we get to the camp, I’ll have to
say goodbye to you. I know that you despise them, and I do to, but you could
cause all matter of trouble there and get yourself killed. For your own sake,
let’s make a decision. Do you want to come, head back to Freeside, or camp out
nearby and wait for me to return?

“I suspected as much. I don’t mind camping nearby and awaiting your return. But once
you’re done, and you get back, let’s finish our business with House and leave
immediately.” He suggested, considering that New Vegas is dangerous to us now.

“Agreed. He’s given us plenty enough caps to live well, and then we can choose to stay
wherever we want in Vegas.” I said.

With that decided and out of the way, all that was between us and The Legion’s camp,
Fortification Hill. We could take weeks to get there, so we would have to find
something to do in-between then. Eventually, we set off, and headed northwest.

Under the crushing heat of the sun, we trekked slowly across the barren wasteland,
taking a rest behind big rocks to catch our breaths, get some sleep, and cool
down in the shade. It felt like there was no one around for miles; but I shouldn’t
expect less in an apocalyptic environment. After what seemed like hours, we
finally came to a narrow passageway in the mountains, and on the other side, we
could see Primm. Primm was a settlement, made in the remains of a few old
casinos, but far from Vegas. I remembered the town, from the time when I was
delivering packages around the wastes; before I took a bullet to the head, of
course. The gap was so narrow that I had to go through without my bags, and
Arcane heaved them through as well as he could. It took a while; what with them
getting stuck on the jagged, sharp rocks, but finally we had both passed, and
took the steep hill down to the town.

The rusty road signs of better days hung nearby, and confirmed the towns name. it
was surrounded by fence, with three entrances to get in, all covered by
makeshift barricades to keep the town protected. It’s one of the few settlement
that actually still has a lawman. Sherrif Beagle has his own shack to the side
of town, and wanders around the town with his trusty six-shooter, keeping the
peace in town. Sure, most criminals don’t get a fair trial, but it’s the best
for miles.

Oddly, the streets were dead empty, nothing but the cold breeze blowing old papers and
rubbish about. The street lights still worked, but an eerie sense came past me,
as if I walking head first into a trap.

“I don’t like the looks of this.” said Arcane, smartly. “We should pass through
the destroyed buildings, over in the east corner. I’ll give you a leg up, and
you check the area with your rifle’s scope.”

“That’s a brilliant plan.” I remarked. “Ok, move slowly and keep your head down.”

I couldn’t lose the feeling that something was not right, and once we had reached
the rubble, Arcane lifted me up to the second floor, where I took cover, and carefully
peaked my scope out of a concealed window. I put my eye to the scope, and felt
sick to my stomach. I was right, bandits hid behind the walls, waiting to
ambush travellers, and corpses lined the streets, their thick, gooey interiors
lined the streets, the Bandits making no effort to clean them up, but push them
out of view instead.

By the looks of it, the surviving citizens had barricaded
themselves into the “Vikki And Vance Casino” as the big sign out front put it,
as many bandits stood by the door, finger on the trigger and all. I felt like
dispensing wasteland justice, but I was vastly outnumbered. If I was going to
do something, it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.

P.S I'm Back For Now, Let's See How Long I Can Keep It Up

Part 24: Brothers In Arms

Back in the slums of Freeside, we had a fair amount of freedom to do whatever we
needed. It would take almost a week of constant moving south east just to reach
the Legion’s camp, so until then, we could do anything really, as long as we
kept moving in that direction. While we were walking to get out of Freeside, we
heard one the hired criers advertising a store called “Mick And Ralph’s Storage
Store”. We went up and asked him about it, and he said they were excellent at
repairwork, and since we had a pair of night vision goggles in need of repair,
we headed straight for the store, in the direction that he gave us.

Inside the store, we found an assortment of containers, wall hangers and benches,
overflowing with various junk. They were all full of raw materials, scrap
metal, spare parts. Just the kind of stuff you’d need to repair things. Over by
the back of the store was a man with has back to us, fiddling around with
something on a workbench, probably busy repairing. As the door slammed shut behind
us, the man suddenly turned to us with a weapon drawn, and moved slowly towards
us. I kept my finger firmly on my trigger in case this guy was going to open
fire.

“Itchy trigger finger, huh?” he asked. “I just came over to show you this gun I just repaired.”

“Christ, what did we need the dramatics for then? The way you were acting, we could have
blown your head clean off.” I retorted. This guys “Acting” almost had us open fire on him.

“Maybe, if it wasn’t for my partner Ralph behind you.” He replied.

We turned around to see Raplh, brandishing a laser gatling gun. Jesus, it had
modifications and everything; a scope, laser recycler, and even a custom firing
chamber. It was a good thing I made the right call.

“Well, hello there. Nice to meet you.” he said in strain, having trouble lifting the thing.

“I..I Guess So” I awkwardly replied, still in shock of how quickly he could end my
life with the pull of the trigger. “Yeah, that’s Overkill.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” He chuckled, and heaved it back into a locked safe behind him and spun the combination lock.

“That thing must weigh a fucking ton.” Arcane said with a slanted jaw. He was mesmerised
by it. Whether through its clean, polished and modified look, or because of its
sheer power, I wouldn’t know.

“It Sure Does, but we should get down to business. Name’s Mike.” He said introducing himself,
like he hadn’t already. A badass by the looks of it, showing of his incredible
firepower. His brother wasn’t too bad either. He had a modified hunting rifle,
like mine, but it was clean and polished with a scope, laser sight and an
extended clip. These guys must have had an armoury underneath them.

“So, you offers repairs?” I asked, interested in their services.

“Repairs, Weapon sales, the works.” Mike answered me, telling us they were proficient in repair
work and selling weapons. I could probably also buy a couple mods from them, and I wasn’t sure how long my old rifle had left in her. Reliable, but with more duct tape than wood, I was just delaying the inevitable.

“Could you have a look at my Rifle?” I asked and handed it to him. He looked down and pulled a confused facial expression.

“Is this a joke?” he laughed. “Where the fuck have you kept this, up your ass?” I understood
his sarcasm. It really did look like I’d kept it up my ass.

“No, but I get that it’s a beat up piece of shit. It’s been incredibly reliable so far, can take out a radroaches from three hundred meters away. I just don’t know how long she’s got left in her. Don’t need it failing on me at a critical moment.” I said.

“We’ll probably have to get you a new model. We’ve got the same model in stock. I can
transfer your scope over, but that’s about it. You’ve been lugging around a
bunch of duct tape so far. You might just be in time to. This thing looks like
it’ll explode if you so much as nudge it.” Informing me of the situation it was
in.

“Thought as much. How much will it run me back?” asking for a price estimation. I had
thousands of caps between me and Arcane, courtesy of House, but I still needed to know.

“The Model you’ve got is a .32 Calibre Colt Rangemaster. These babies are accurate
to five hundred yards, are fully customisable, next to Recoil free, and tough
as steel. Your gun must have been good back in the days. They truly are some of
the strongest weapons I’ve ever seen. It’ll run you back at least eight hundred
caps.” He went all techno babble on me. I understood most of it though; I was
good at repair work myself.

“Yeah, I can do that. Can I get an ammo pouch, flashlight, and a laser scope on there?”
I asked, wondering if I could get any extra features included.

“You’re really going all out?” he asked. “That’ll be incredibly expensive, but I can do
that for one thousand caps for everything.”

“Sounds good.” I answered, and handed over my caps to them. It was a hell of a lot, but
I needed it more than ever now.

“This could take a while, about thirty minutes, so feel free to read some of the
magazines we’ve got over of there.” He said and pointed to a corner with a
desk, and copies of pre-war magazines. He walked off to go and get my request
finished and came back on time. He handed me a beauty of a creation. It was
just as I asked. This thing was polished, and shined so much I could almost see
my own face on the rifle butt.

“Jesus you did an amazing job, thank you.” I said, still in shock of how this thing looked.

“No problem, and have one of these, on the house.” And handed me a box of Armour
Piercing ammo. That would come in really handy if I got into trouble with
armoured thugs. I waved them off and started pushing open the door, before
Arcane suddenly snapped and remembered something.

“Didn’t you need your Night vision goggles fixed as well?” he questioned me.

“Oh shit. Yeah I do, shit you just saved us both getting fucked in the dark.” I responded
and laughed. Without these working, I’d see about as well through the darkness as
I could through a wall.

“Something else you needed?” Ralph asked, wondering why I had come back inside.

“Yeah, I need you to look at these for me” I said, and handed him my busted
Night-Vision Goggles.

“Well, at least you haven’t kept this up your ass; you just need new batteries, and a
repaired battery pack. I can handle that for Fifty caps.” He told me.

“Sure I can do that.” And handed him the paltry sum of Fifty caps, that wasn’t at all
a bad price for something so crucial. He came back after only about five
minutes.

“Hereyou go.” He said, and passed me the Goggles. “They work great; I’d imagine up
to about four hundred meters out you can see clearly. New batteries already in
there, and an extra pack for when you need them.” He was really generous,
giving out free stuff with every sale, but I imagined that they don’t see many
sales in Freeside, so making customers happy was a smart idea.

“Thank you so much, I’ll surely visit again someday” I said and waved at the pair,
before walking outside to continue our journey.

Part 23: A Glum Situation

With our gear packed, and a clear goal ahead of us, We were both In high spirit. We both despised the Legion, and saw fit toweaken them however possible. House seemed the perfect leader to rule the new
world, with his vast wealth and supplies. Helping him out would ensure that he
could keep Vegas prosperous, and expand outwards to reclaim and repair
Freeside, and even further out. We stepped down the glowing neon steps of the Lucky 38, but things soon became dark, and our situations both looked grim.

In the dark, piercing city, with only the street lamps providing a source of visibility, an armada of what looked like an army descended upon us. Infront of us we saw a gang of the Top’s casinos guards,
brandishing their impressive, although frighteningly powerful weapons for us to
gaze upon. It seemed as if my luck had run out, and karma had come to force his
streak of pain and agony upon us.

Stepping out from the middle of the group was a Top’s chairman. He was a disgustingly obese and ugly man, almost painful to look at.. He had custom made clothing, tailored just for his size, with his belt barely taking the strain of his truck-like muscles. He was already panting by the time he reached us.

“Nobody escapes the Tops.” He said, and struggled into his pocket for an asthma inhaler. I could tell this guy never made public appearances, and only handled the business side of things. “You two are coming with us…we’ll make you pay.”

The men approached us with their weapons out, and began to move us toward the Tops at gunpoint. Arcane turned to me with a look of discomfort across his face; it was clear he was as scared as me that
this was the end of us. Suddenly, from behind us. A mysterious voice called
out. “I suggest you drop your weapons immediately, unless you’ve always wished
to be burned with high calibre lasers.”

Turning around to get a look at what the noise was, I breathed a sigh of relief and ease. House’s Robot army had swept in behind us, and their weapons were set to fire. They easily outnumbered the
Top’s guards.

The chairman’s face turned pale and white in a flash. He lost his breath, and his chest was pounding with fear. He motioned backwards, and walked away, looking like a blunder. Without even noticing, the
once powerful and threatening looking guards about to pound us with lead, had
disappeared. I turned around, and one of the Strip bots zoomed towards me on
his monowheel.

“Well, It appears we may have a problem.” Came House’s voice. He appeared to be able to talk through any of them.

“Let me just say thank you for saving my ass.” I said cheerfully, but turned to fear again “But they want to kill me now. I can barely step foot inside the strip without having a personal army against
me.” Informing him of the likelihood that now my life was threatened.

“Indeed. I suspected something like this would occur. Whenever you enter Vegas, I will personally send my Robots in to protect you. And I’ll make sure nobody follows you to kill you out of sight.” He said
to make my worries vanish.

“Alright, if you’re sure you can.” I offhandedly said.

“Of course I can.” He snapped at me. “The only reason that they even exist here is due to my approval. I can force them to do whatever I want, and they know that I am far more well-armed and wealthy then
them.” Reminding me of his power and authority here in the strip.

The robot that he was in control of returned to its usual spot on the strip, and the others followed suit. The entirety of the strip’s inhabitants looked upon the pair of us. Whether in fear of having
the support of Mr. House, or of shock at the fact we were almost murdered, I am
unsure. With a feeling of unease in our chests, we didn’t feel to safe on the
strip, and we quickly departed to go and complete House’s wish. We knew now we
needed to stay on good terms with him, as his wealth and power would come in
extremely helpful.

Part 22: The House Always Wins

Down in the basement, I emerged to see a rusty, metal storage room, in obvious need of repair. A large forcefield in front of me separated me from the rest of the room, on my side were a few
chairs and ammunition in a box, on the other were two robots standing opposite each
other. I took a seat and watched the lights flash on. A monitor descended from
the ceiling with Mr. House on it.

"As you can see, the mark one operating system provides the robots access to the X-25 Gatling lasers, and the nine millimetre submachine gun." To which the robots demonstrated their normal weapons. "However,
with the mark two operating system, they are now able to access their M-235
Missile Launcher, rapid fire G-28 Grenade launching system, and interior repair
and rerouting system. " To which the robots faces changed from the usual image
of a police officer, to an army man, smoking a cigar.

The robots both turned, and utterly destroyed each other with their new weapons. Rockets flew, metal
scraps exploded, and the area they were in became a wreck of twisted, smoking
metal. It was quite a sight, and I could feel the heat from the explosions,
with the force field saving me from taking a mountain of shrapnel to the face.

"This upgrade increases each unit's combat effectiveness by two hundred and thirty
five percent." House said, to which I could understand easily. I returned to
the elevator and wondered just how much I had changed Vegas. Now the
securitrons were basically unstoppable soldiers that didn't feel pain, hunger or thirst.

Back upstairs in the penthouse, I returned back to the monitor, where Mr. House flashed onscreen again.

"Interesting display, wouldn't you agree?" he asked me.

"Well, it sure was!" I said. "But I'm a little concerted they are too powerful."

"You seem to be missing the point. With this upgrade, Vegas finally has robots worthy of defending it. No longer do we face the threat of the Legion taking the city" he said.

"Well, how are people going to react?" I asked

"Funny you should ask. They seem to be causing quite a stir down on the strip, just because of the new face they show. Can't imagine how they'll react to seeing the new weapons in action."

"Well, I guess I'm done here." I said, and walked away.

"Slow down, what's the rush?" came from the speakers.

"What now?" I said, slightly annoyed.

"I can see you are quite a capable person, so I have another job for you."

"Alright, go on..." I replied, intrigued by what he might have for me.

"Very well. There is hardware in only two places on earth, capable of reading the data
contained on the platinum chip. One located here, and unfortunately one is in
the Legion's camp by Hoover Dam."

"Woah, hold it right there. I haven't been planning to visit those murderers anytime soon." I reminded him of my stance towards them.

"I expected as much from a suggestion like that. Therefore, I will throw in three thousand caps, upon completion. I will also provide you access to this casino's luxury suite, as long as you continue
to work for Me." giving me an offer I couldn't refuse.

"As soon as I get there, they'll tear me apart!" I told him.

"You'd indeed be right that they are savages, if you were any other person. However they too have noticed your skills. I guarantee they'll provide safe passage for you to Caesar, if you don't cause
trouble for them."

"But what about Arcane? He despises them." I asked.

"Is it not obvious enough? Don't take him with you. There's no doubt he'll start a fight and you'll end up dead."

"Alright..." I grudgingly agreed, but what do I do there?

"I prefer to leave surprises." He joked. "Certainly what you find there will be shocking, but I'll provide you with the basic information. At the fort, you'll likely be instructed by Caesar to gain access to the hidden bunker underneath it. It bears the mark of the lucky 38 on its steel door. Inside, you'll have to place the chip into a large panel in a control room, again, it'll become obvious when you arrive there.

"Alright, it'll take a few days, but I'll go there." I said, and moseyed out to achieve my job.

"Hold up." He signalled he still had something to say. "It's likely that they'll confiscate the Chip and your weaponry when you arrive. Don't panic, it'll get back to you." He said, as the monitor
flickered off. I went up the staircase and stared off into the horizon, as the
tower provided an excellent view of at least five miles. The sun glimmered and
reflected off my glasses, and filled the building with light. I pulled out my
Snowglobe and pondered what it was doing in pristine condition in that murky
graveyard. I heard a noise, like a shriek from behind me, and I turned to see
another robot, with the image of a stereotypical sixties girl on the monitor.

"Oooohh." She called out. "You've got a snow globe?"

"Well. Obviously." I remarked, unsure as to what she was so excited about.

"Mr. House pays one thousand caps for those! It's so rare to find them in pristine condition." She was in awe of it, and scanned every inch of it with here robotic glaze. "Are you selling it?"

"For a thousand caps, I can't refuse." And with my agreement, she escorted me back to collect the pay for it. We went back to the terminal, and the screen flickered on yet again.

"Have you already achieved your goal? Might I ask, what matter of sorcery you used to do it without even leaving the building?" he said sarcastically.

"Of course I haven't Captain Obvious, but one of your robots suggested you pay well for these things. And pulled out the Snowglobe.

"Good Heavens! Another one for my collection. Might I ask where you purchased it?"

"Purchased it?" I queried "I found it in the middle of a graveyard, just besides Goodsprings."

"That's very surprising. In a post apocalyptic environment, a fragile glass object is one of the few things you'd expect to see survive. I imagined for fifty years nobody would find another one. If you are willing
to hand it in, I guarantee I'll stick by my original cap offer." He said
in surprise and enthusiasm.

"Certainly" I said, and placed it down on a bench in a room to the side, where other snow
globes stood and glistened in the sunlight. I could truly tell the man
was passionate about his collection, and I wondered to myself just where
he had such a huge resource of cash from. I was flooded in caps from everything
he had given me so far.

Finally, I departed, and left a few thousand caps in the new
suite he had given me for working for him, which was a welcome sight. Just like
Benny's suite, it had all the luxuries one could imagine; even with the
remnants of nuclear war surrounding me, it was clear the people of Vegas lived
in luxury and safety. Maybe I would retire here after I'd finished my job; I
certainly had enough cash to get along here. I could also leave my gear here,
rather than have to haul it off to a merchant like I used to. However, I had a
job to fulfil, so after admiring my new room, I left the building and met up
with Arcane outside, and we walked slowly down the shiny neon lighted flooring
before us.

Part 21: A Message From Above

Down at the main floor of the Casino, things we’re finishing up. Gamblers packed their things and stopped gambling, the staff left to get their pay and rest, and the lights above started to turn off.
Surprisingly, seems nobody had noticed what I did; no guards stood waiting to
shoot me, but they’d find out eventually. I went to the Vault to get my trusty rifle, and left the casino.

Just outside the Tops, a robot came barrelling towards me on its monowheel. It was Victor!

“Well howdy partner, good to see you again!” it repeated like before.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you.” I said “How’re things going?”

“Oh you know. Glad to be back with the Boss. Speaking of which, The boss wanted to see you.” He informed me

“…What?” surprised that Mr. House wanted to see me. Nobody had come out of the Lucky 38 alive for years. “What does he want?” I asked.

“Sounds like he’s after that Platinum chip. Said to come meet you, since he thought you might still have it.

“Well, I lost it, but got it back when I went in there.” I told him.

“Great! Boss sure will want to talk to you. Follow me” he said, and escorted me to the Lucky 38’s Towering steel door.

“Woah, hold it there partner.” He said, peering over my shoulder to see Arcane following me. “Boss only wants to see you, sorry but you’ll have to keep your friend in the lobby.”

“Fine, Stay here Arcane.” I replied, and entered the enormous structure. Inside, it appeared as any other casino, with roulette and blackjack tables, and slot machines; but the place was desolate. The atmosphere
was silent, with only a slight drone coming from Victor’s engine. He wheeled
forward and opened the Elevator. “Alright, off to the penthouse floor with
you.” He said, as I stepped into the elevator and waved off Arcane.

As the door opened, I looked forward over a railing and saw a huge part of the Mojave, this
was easily the tallest building for miles around. Victor escorted me off to a
large monitor, with a rats nest of wires poking up into the ceiling, and two
speakers either side of it. After a moment of admiring the technology, a small
noise of feedback came from the speakers, and with a zap of light, an image
depicting Mr. House appeared onscreen.

“So, glad to finally meet you.” Came a low tone from the speakers.

“Well, Err hello there.” I said slowly, unsure how to talk to a computer.

“Indeed greetings, but we have business to attend to. I believe you are currently in possession of the platinum chip?” he asked

“Yeah, but it wasn’t to you. I was supposed to leave it in some old building.” I replied.

“Correct. I made sure the delivery was to somewhere desolate. If I had asked for it to be delivered to the Strip, specifically the Lucky 38, people would realise the importance of it.”

“Well, what’s so important about it? It’s just a chip” I asked.

It sounded as if I could hear him muttering in frustration. “How can I put this, the chip is a computer drive shaped like a chip for numerous reasons, it’s inconspicuous, it’s technologically advanced, but we’re losing the focus; give it to me.”

“Why should I give you the chip?” I questioned.

“Do you not remember the original freighting fee? One thousand credits was the agreed upon price.” He said, tempting me with the thousand caps that made me take the job

“Hmm, I could just keep this.” I suggested

“Give me one thing you’d use it for. For Christ’s sake, you didn’t even know what it was. Trust me, yes it is valuable which is why I paid a hefty sum for its delivery, but who else do you
know will pay you more for a tiny, seemingly insignificant chip?” he reminded
me that nobody else would understand it.

“Could keep it as a collectable.” I said, to which an overwhelming large sigh came through the speakers.

“I can see why a tiny chip that’s easy to lose and useless, is certainly better than a small fortune of a thousand caps, which you can spend on whatever you want.” He said cynically.

“You want this chip that bad, well…..I’ll hear you out a little more.” To which a fairly long silence came from the speakers, like he was in shock at my decision to keep the chip.

“Delivery of the platinum chip is non-negotiable. Look around you, you’ll see many of the strip’s own security bots. If you’ve had the unfortunate chance to witness them in a firefight, you’ll know they always win. They don’t die to headshots or bleed, and the only way to kill them is to either destroy the motherboard, buried deep under four feet of steel in the chest, or sever the limbs from it; again, through thick steel. One shot of the robot’s lasers will singe flesh and cause major bleeding, making you drop your weapon and fall in tremendous pain. Reminding me, robots don’t feel pain and are considerably tougher.

“That’s….not a bad argument” I mumbled. Not wanting to see how pathetic my gun fares against steel.

“But one question; why do you need the Chip so badly?”

“Simple. It contains data relevant to upgrading the Lucky 38’s advanced defence system, as well as the Mark two operating system. The bots you see on the street are all running on the mark
one operating system, which limits their effectiveness if combat, even if they
are already immensely powerful. They have onboard auto repair systems, as well
as grenade and rocket launching weapons that unfortunately they cannot use. The
chip has the relevant drivers needed to grant them access, which would make them
virtually undefeatable.

"Alright, I understand that, but what about the Lucky 38’s Advanced Defence system?” I asked.

“Ah yes, about that. You’ve probably noticed that the Strip is considerably better preserved than its surroundings. Installed on the top of this building are high intensity lasers that allow me
to shoot down any incoming projectiles. On the day of the Great War, seventy seven
nuclear missiles were directed towards Nevada and of course, to here. I was
forced to make do with buggy software, as I had ordered the chip to be
delivered early on the morning of the war.

Without the upgrade to my lasers, and with missiles incoming, I managed
to take out seventy of the nuclear warheads, leaving the Mojave as it is today,
in a much better state than it would have been if they all were to have hit. If
that chip was delivered just twenty hours earlier, I would have been able to
destroy all the warheads.”

“Oh man. You ordered that chip almost two hundred years ago? Wait, doesn’t that mean you’re over two hundred years old?”

“Good to see you can pay attention. Indeed, I am not a computer program but a human still alive, thanks to my cryogenically sealed container, deep within the confines of this building. I realised that
the Great War was about to arrive, and sealed myself into cryostatis so that I
could live for all these years, since it would be almost thirty years before I
ever saw anyone outside in the radioactive wasteland.

“Well why can’t I come and see you?” I asked.

“Because, if you did, you’d find my withering husk of a body. Two hundred years doesn’t leave me in a state to pop out of my machine and have a chat with you, no the machine is the only
thing keeping my alive. For over two hundred years, nothing has entered or left
this cryostatis container. If I was to open it, I’d within seconds be exposed
to hundreds of toxins and pollutants in the air that you’ve been exposed to for
many years. I’d also be unable to support my own weight. Therefore, I’m not leaving.” He explained

“Well, that's a......very interesting explanation” I murmered, and finally pushed the chip into the slot in front of me. Mr House sounded very happy, and I was unsure what he was doing. But quite soon, he came back to me.

“I have just sent the upgrade to all the Securitons within range of my emitters, and of course upgraded this buildings defence system. Vegas should now be nearly impenetrable against any incoming attacks,
and I guarantee nobody will crack Vegas without signifigant firepower. I’m certain you’ll want to know exactly
how the upgrade will affect the future, so please take the elevator to the basement.” He said,
and flashed off, leaving the screen blank. I returned to the elevator and took
it to the basement to see what how the upgrade changed the robots.

Notice: The Content in this story (Characters, Locations and Objects) are copyright of Bethsada Softworks, Obsidian Entertainment, or their respective owners. This is just a fan story, with no copyright intented. So please Bethsada, don't sue me, I love your games :D

Part 20: A Date With Destiny

As soon as the doors opened, I dashed out to be blown away with the glamorous life that Benny lived. There was a clean carpet full of interesting patterns, a personal bar and pool table, painted and
postered walls in perfect condition, and an air conditioner, keeping the place
nice and cool; for a first impression, this was godly.

“In admiration?” Benny smirked.

“Err, yeah. You live up here?” I surprised myself, actually talking to him.

“Hell yes!” he grinned. “Why wouldn’t I live in luxury like this?”

“How can you afford all of it, I’ve never seen a place in a condition like this” I explained.

“Oh, I’m with you” he understood my confusion. “I’m the Top’s Chairman.”

“Nice.” I said, impressed by his accomplishments. It was around this point I remembered I needed to stop being friendly, and murder this bastard. I asked for a tour and was lead from one
astonishingly untouched room to the next, each one being spotless and well
maintained. Taking a good look around, I saw no cameras, but I was unsure if
they were hidden anywhere.

“And here’s your room.” He said, as he whisked me into a guest room, with an actual bed. Can’t even remember the last time I had one, so I was incredibly pleased at the prospect. I jumped on it and lay
back on the heavenly pillows, making me feel weightless and that my problems
were gone. Arcane had a bed to the side of me, and he had just the same
reaction to the snug and soft blankets surrounding him.

Over the next few hours, the three of us relaxed in Benny’s luxury apartment, drinking, chatting and even swimming in his mini pool. I have to say, it was easily an extremely enjoyable experience,
even with a cruel murderer. Eventually it got late, and looking upwards through
the sky roof at the stars filled me with a sense of wonder, at their astounding
beauty. Soon after we returned to our rooms to get some well needed shuteye,
but I had other plans.

I had smuggled a kitchen knife from behind the bar into my room, and after a few hours had passed, to ensure he was well asleep, I stepped gingerly through the hallway, trying not the creak the
floorboards. Inch by inch, I pushed the door to see Benny in a deep slumber. I
returned back to my room to talk to Arcane first.

“Hey Arcane.” I whispered into his ear

“Urgh…What?” he asked

“I’m about to finish Benny, get out of the Casino in case things go wrong. If they do, I don’t want you dying with me.”

“Oh shit.” He said, and creeped to the Elevator. As the doors closed he whispered “Good luck!”

Back down the hallway I went, quivering horribly and trembling in my very shoes, at any moment he could wake up, at any moment I could make a sound, and at any moment, his guards could come up and
blow my face off. Back to the door, and managed to get by without making any
sound. Inch by inch with the door again, Benny hadn’t moved. I was drenched in
sweat by the time I was halfway, and drowning in it when I was just above him.

Fearing my shaking would wake him, I slashed the knife straight through his neck, to
which he woke and fumbled around on the floor. It was horrible to watch, but
also quite gratifying to see him suffer. He tried to speak, but his slashed
neck left anything come out become a creaky mess of groans. Only about a minute
later, he plummeted face down into the carpet, surrounded by his blood. it
soaked the carpet awfully, reaching over a wide area, even soaking my clothing;
I needed a change of clothing to walk out of here without raising suspicion.

Looking through the room, to loot some of the fancy stuff before I left, I picked up Benny’s engraved pistol. It was covered in precious jewels, with the words “Maria” carved down the barrel. I took it
and also the platinum chip which was hidden under the bed. Finally, I took a
couple of other fancy items from the room, quickly left and switched clothing,
and then took the elevator down to get the hell of the casino.
Notice: The Content in this story (Characters, Locations and Objects) are copyright of Bethsada Softworks, Obsidian Entertainment, or their respective owners. This is just a fan story, with no copyright intented. So please Bethsada, don't sue me, I love your games :D

Part 19: Vegas

For a second time, I stepped through a door and became dazzled before the
tremendous display of lights. Through my still hazy eyes, I looked upon the
glamorous city of Vegas. Respectful, well dressed citizens sat and chatted
orderly, the security bots roamed the streets and kept the city incredibly
secure, but the almost sky-scraping sized casinos stood and stole the show. One
building called the Lucky 38 could be seen for miles, even from Goodsprings. It
wasn’t public though, only the security bots and Mr. House, the leader of the
city are allowed inside. After the amazing sight and sounds had settled in, my
enthusiasm went crazy, I could gamble, I could live in luxury, I could even get
a job in the casinos.

“Oh, my god.” Arcane mouthed, just as any visitor to Vegas does.

“I know. What should we do first?”

“I think we should check out the casinos. We’ve got The Tops, the Ultra-luxe and Gomorrah,
where you do want to go first?”

Looking in front of me, three giant casinos, covered in lights and paint dazzled the sky and streets. The closest was the Tops, so I decided that was the best idea. We stepped through the casino’s
colossal metal doors, and came face to face with a guard.

“Hey.” He said smoothly. “Sorry to bother you, but we’re going to need your weapons if
you want to enjoy our casino. Just hand them over, and we’ll get this over nice and easy.”

“Ok, but where are you taking them?”

“Don’t worry yourself; we keep them upstairs in our safe. They’re as safe as our
money, which is to say, very safe.” He explained.

“Oh, very well.” I said and handed over my weapons. I can understand why they don’t
want weapons inside their casinos. I took a good look around inside and saw
people laughing, gambling and drinking at a bar. Walking along the floor, I
noticed in the corner was a man dressed in a chequered suit. Where does that
ring a bell? I suddenly realised and my jaw none figuratively hit the floor. I
marched up to him, and saw him turn to me, with his face suddenly gaping wide.
His body was shaking by the time I got close, and four burly men in black suit
came from corners to stand aside him.

“y.yy.oou..” he muttered.

“Indeed, i'm alive.” I said smugly.

His face changed less from surprise into charismatic. “Well, interesting to see how
resilient you are.” He laughed.

“Give me one good reason not to kill you now.” I said sharply

“One reason?” he laughed “How about four. They’re called bodyguards, and every
single one of them in packing heat; five if you include me. And with what
little peashooter you might have smuggled past the guards over there, you stand
no chance.”

His convincing argument quickly made me reconsider my immediate rage to kill this
guy. I was going to finish him off some other way.

“So, how’d you find me?” he was very smug.

“Met one of your buddies, gave me this.” And handed him his lighter. He cracked up
and leaned against the wall behind him, examining the lighter.

“Ah shit. How could I forget this little thing? hope you murdered those bastards.

“Opposite, actually. They were completely surrounded by NCR troops, and I managed to get
the NCR to let them walk away.” I replied

His enthusiasm dropped. “Man, you don’t have to talk your way out of stuff; kill
people” he suggested.

“No. you just gave me a hell of a good reason not to” seeing through his subtle
dialog.

“Son of a.... Well hey, no point in being angry at me any longer? How about you come
with me up to the presidential sweet and we relax in luxury?” he suggested.

It wasn’t my biggest hope to hang out with the guy that tried to kill me, but I
reluctantly agreed to see if I could kill him in his room privately. “Sure.” I
said as we took the most awkward elevator ever to his room.
Notice: The Content in this story (Characters, Locations and Objects) are copyright of Bethsada Softworks, Obsidian Entertainment, or their respective owners. This is just a fan story, with no copyright intented. So please Bethsada, don't sue me, I love your games :D