" I am alone again. The noise, the chatting, the annoying sounds made me crazy. Too many fresh faces in this NCR lookout, too many dead old ones and way too many wounded" The old man sighed.
In a lightend tent, the shilouette of the old man blocked the view to the outside, only the wind entering through the slightly opened entrance.
"Sometimes i hope that those who even faintly got near to me would die with their face burried in the mud, it would make the parting easier." Again a deep breath before the figure started to move, it grabbed behind it and got himself a white mask. The mask was an upgraded version of the enclave Mk.3 Surgeon-mask, it had an intigrated filter system wich could even be switched to a complete shut down and so would then work on a air tank instead.
The googles were able to darken when light would hit them and could also target the last few rays and so imitate a night vision. All in all this was high tech and advanced technology created by the enclave AFTER the war.

Untill now Andrej had luck and did not appoarched any Brotherhood follower because they wuld most likely killed him for that level of technology and if not, kidnapped him. As he entered the wasted he quickly recognized that without protection of an organisation he would quickly find it´s end and as he saw the follower of apocalypse he knew that here his knowledge was best to use.
Sadly this also brought him here....the end of the world...the gates to hell....a NCR lookout near the "new" Legion border. Shots echoed through every night and wounded and deads were reported each day, it was a catrastrophe, a disaster...but who had time no mourn?

The way to the clinic was like an ant trail, cockroach like humans crawled on this road. Many faces were tained with mayhem, looses and pain. Families, friends...it does not matter anymore in this trail of roaches, those human were more hollow thanks to the advancing of ceasar´s legion. It was a river of hollows.
The NCR tried to keep this stream in chek, assigning those who really needed to the medical tent and the other to a gathering camp further into the NCR region, it really was a mess and the use of weapons was coming quickly if people refused to violently.

Then suddenly the river of hollows parted and walking through it was a shining figure in white, tubes and mechanical instruments were attached to the figure´s suit. It was a weird secanry since this parting was not caused of the force of weapons but alone the aura of this person made it clear....here he was in need, here he was a god. Two NCR freshlings walked behind him, shoving several instruments behind the enlightend man.

As they arrived in the medical tent, some other doctors even stopped working, all the eyes drifted towards the person, some in admiration, some in envy. Andrej did not care about the looks and the stares, for him only the patients before him mattered.
Quickly he went on to work.

Inner bleedings? Stopped and the blood sucked out through a small cut.
Infection of a wound, combined with small necrosis? The dead gauze was being removed, the wound cleansed and desinfected, furthermore the cut flesh was repleaced.
Three bullets? Two had peirced the lung and the last went through the shoulder~ it all was no problem to him, even two cases of energy weapons had survived this day.
After 6 houres, the figure could barely stand on it´s feet anymore and it just sat down in a seperated part of the medical tent and put off his mask.

A grey haired and bearded face with a scar on his lip and his forehead, sweaty and exhausted came in view. The glance in the man´s eyes was also nearly hollow and shimmered in a strange brown which seemed a bit too bright to believe.
An overly friendly nurse brought him a glass of clean water, a quick nearly unnoticable check of a Geiger-counter and a swift Bio chek, and with a friendly nod Andrej took and finished the whole glass in one gulb. He was done, finished, hollow like those he is taking care of. Many does think that such a work would fill one with joy, joy of saving ones life...infact to survive in this job...you had to discard all your humaniy to stay sane when viewing a human like a tool...you can safe it, you can repair despise all the things they preach...if you know what´s wrong, there is always the same routine. Humans are destroying routine, they do not follow the same protocoll, they do not act acordingly to a term.

Before Andrej could drift deeper into his thoughts a strange dressed figure stood before, Andrej did not notice it and so was a bit suprised. He raised his eyes and it met those of the man infront of him.
"Andrej Kajovick?" The man asked, it was pronunced the way that this strange person here knew who the person infront him was.
"Mr. V asks for your service" the man continued. Andrej was suprised and a bit shocked, few people know his name and fewer know his last name. Aside from the enclave, only selected few every heard it and really...a mister V?

Suddenly it hit Andrej, he knew WHO asked for him and he knew for what. The hollow glance vanished and the view suddenly hardened. He did not even had to listen to the holo tape. It was Jackson Radford who else! He had one or two encounters with this son of a gun and most ended with a shootout that he mostly won with his .44 colt and well the reason could then only be...the legendary courier 6.

Andrej stood up and placked his mask and some other stuff which would be usefull for the journey.
"Where to?" He asked the strange man as he was ready.
"The Hub~ Down town~ in...."
"Madinson´s bar!" Andrej finished the sentence of the man, he knew this...so called bar in the outskirt of the biggest trading city in the whole new world. It was a dangerous place and so perfect for Jackson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------2 days later--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It smelled, it was dangerous and worst of all full of germ and infections~ may they be of human or viral cause. Like a tumor this so called "hub" was growing in the southern parts of California. One could hide a vault here and no one would ever find it and so this so called city was full of sin, mistrust and overall hollow like human beings, may they be mutant, smooth-skin or ghoul.
So it was a little suprise of Andrej as he saw the cliente of the Madison´s bar, it was a colour mixture of everything and he bet most of them were here for the job the so called Mr.V had offered them but on a closer look...it seemed there was no Jackson around.
From the time they had Andrej knew that he was a tad late for the meeting and so, naturally since he entered through the back netry, he headed for the front and nearly died from a shock.

A giant super muti, then a beautifull red haired women (even she could be his daughter), another women with a dog, an ex legionare (Heck those colours are bright as day) and...last but not least....the man of the day and probably their leader Jackson !

"And here i hoped i had to never see you again since we picked you from the Colorado river and i really hoped you would bite the dust as i fixed your shoulder on the 2nd fight on hover dam"
Andrej prononced it loudly for everyone to hear and headed towards Jackson, his fists clenched in seeming anger before he laughed and took the man´s hand.
"Glad to see you are still kicking and wielding that non-chalant 44. colt like a wild west desperado or Lucky Luke~" He laughed friendly and so showed that he and Jackson had some (unpleasant) history to share from back when he was a caravan guide.

After he welcomed Jackson he turned around and gave everyone a nod.
"Andrej your medic for hire, no refund on lost limbs" he added with wink and went to shake everyones hand...well and trying to find out of the mutant was decent enough to understand what Andrej wanted from him and not accidently crushing him or eating him alive...maybe even trying to mate with him...hey it all happened.

"Andrej Kajovick" giving him a firm nod " its been quite a while, i didn't think you would still be kicking around, thought you would of went into some god forsaken hell hole trying to aid the wounded and got yourself killed, but apparently not" Jackson tossed a small pouch of caps at Andrej "here the last of what i owe you. We are even now got it? And i would rather leave the past in the past for now. we have a job to do and quite frankly i want to get it over and done with as quick as possible."
Jackson perched himself on the rock behind him and took out a bottle of whiskey and started to drink, as some of the memories from the dam came flooding back, all the dead bodies and limbs everywhere, men and women alike fearing for their lives and the cries of pain from the wounded.
After a few moments Jackson realized that everyone was staring at him so he took one last drink before placing the bottle in his pocket.

"It would seem everyone who has agreed to meet us here has arrived. So down to business then, As you know you have been contacted for a job by Mr V my employer, Those of you that know how he is, would know he is rich, has friends in high places, and demands results, He is not apart of the NCR, but thankfully hates the legion enough to help them" Jackson stands up and look at everyones intrigued faces and Dirges confused face.
"The job is by No means easy and in reality i do not think all of us will be coming back. Mr v has heard a few rumours from runaway slaves and those few would be hero's that have returned that Courier Six is alive and being held captive somewhere in Legion territory. either in the Mojave or more likely in Arizona. Our job is to go to the Mojave, while there we need to try and find out more about these rumours. Now i'm not one to believe gossip but if you all remember that the rumours about Joshua Graham...the burned man are true, so i'm inclined to work on this"
Jackson paces up and down the assembled group

"but lets face it most of you could give a ratts ass about that, you are here for the pay. and the pay is as follows, you will be payed in advance the sum of 5 000 Legion Aureus to help us trade with during our time on this mission, any of which remains with then be converted into caps" Jackson quickly looks up at dirge seeing his vacant expression " you will get payed a weird kind of jingles to start off with, they are just like ca..normal jinglies just they look different" going back to pacing up and down
"upon our return we will be paid a sum of 10 000 caps regardless if it was a success or not But if we are successful and manage Six with either proof of him being dead or getting him home safe we will be given an extra 15 000 Caps. each, If you do die out there your share will go to whoever your next of kin or stated friend" jackson pulls out his pip boy and asks everyone to list their next of kin or friend " i will send this to Mr V Before we leave tomorrow, Any questions?"

Dirge's face twitched awkwardly as before as he tried to force a smile which only resulted with him forming the same odd facial expression of before, it being a bizarre combination of a sneer and a someone caught mid laugh. "Nice hairy man. Me Dirge." He said as his massive hand completely engulfed Andrej's in a eager handshake, though he put no pressure into the shake so the much smaller man wouldn't of felt any pain. As he released the man's hand he looked back to Angel. "Pretty lady has a pretty name." He said in a cheery tone, though his gravelly voice caused it to lose some of it's kindness.

Dirge moved his attention to the man he was sent to find in the first place as he started to talk. The poor mutant was almost completely lost right out the gate as Jackson went on about explaining the plan. He hadn't the slightest what the man meant about NCR, Slaves or Courier six but luckily Jackson took time to explain he would get his jinglys even though they would look different. Dirge quickly regained his odd smile and started to quietly singing to himself "Jinglys jinglys jinglys..."

"Yeah my only question would be what is the big deal about Courier Six I am not well versed on them."

Grant spoke in a gruff low deep voice that could only belong to a mutant, but the way he articulated his words no doubt caused confusion as to if he was in fact a mutant or not. However he had grown accustom to people constantly trying to harass him because he was a mutant, but surprisingly this town had not yet caught on to the fact that he was one yet and that in itself was surprising to him. Grant slowly lowered his black hood to reveal a dented and crude metal helmet that meant at the base line of the mask he wore over his face, they almost seemed to connect to each other to conceal the super mutants face.

"I am sorry I am late I had a job to finish in Clement's town and unfortunate circumstances arose after the fact while on my way here. An if anyone would like to know my name is Grant, just Grant."

Grant stood silently as he looked at the small group they all seemed capable enough, he was surprised however to see one of his kind among the group, it was not often that Super Mutants were friendly enough to work with other people or not raid towns, it was actually refreshing to Grant however he neither knew nor wanted to know at this point the true motivations of his brother in arms, however he was more curious about why he was summoned here today to this town and why in such a mysterious manner, it had only been about two days ago now but he had just been finishing a job given to him by the town of Clement to take down a camp of raiders who was holding all their children hostage in a cave a mile outside of town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 DAYS PREVIOUS . . . . . .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wait, wait we can talk this out!"

Grant held the sledge hammer in one hand as he glared at the pig of a man who dared to beg him to talk about the act he had just committed, down on the ground a young girl was huddled in a ball shaking and crying, Grant had been unable to console her an the man in front of him was the reason why. All around the cave guns and spent casings were scattered everywhere over a pool of blood that had amassed from the several dead Raider that had taken refuge in the cave, in the corner the children were safe and sound something Grant was happy about. This man however... Grant had arrived too late to stop this vile man from this girl and now he was trying to beg for mercy but there was none, not even in Grants mind and heart.

"You don't deserve talking raider scum, you have committed a despicable act against this girl on ground!"

Grant found it hard to keep his wording articulated as the anger was seeping into his blood, this poor innocent girl would be scarred for the rest of her life because of the evil of men like this, men who think they can do anything they want when they want to who they want. Grant went forward as he grabbed the Raider by the neck and picked up up off the ground as if he was a rag doll and brought him face level, the man pissed himself right on the spot as warm liquid started to seep through the cracks of his armor. They never thought a Super Mutant would be the one to come for these children, and now they were paying for it, while it held true that Grant did not prefer violence, he also recognized that it was necessarily to stop evil men such as this. Cowards who go after little children!

"Please... wait we can make a deal... just ... let me.. go"

Grant slowly squeezed the air out of the mans lungs as he was now turning blue in the face, he was trying to claw at Grant's large gloves hands but it was to no avail and he was going to realize that soon enough. Grant had nothing but contempt right now, and even with his mind when a Super Mutant felt contempt they could not be swayed by anyone or anything. But it was when Grant looked at the little girl shaking on the ground that he loosened his grip on the raiders neck, why kill the man when he deserved to be taken back to the family of this little girl so they could deal judgement upon him? Grant brought his other hand up and smashed his fist into the mans face and knocked him cold, putting him over his shoulder Grant slung the war hammer over his back and slowly reached his other huge hand down and slowly picked up the young girl and put her in the crook of his arm.

"No worry little one, you go home now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 HOURS PAST . . . . . .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grant sat outside the town walls now slowly but surely counting the caps he had been paid for returning the children to the village and dispatching the raiders who had been terrorizing the town. The screams from the raider leader that Grant brought back were echoing all over the wasteland as the parents had their way with him for their daughter that he defiled. It was the foot steps from Grants left side that drew his attention, turning to face the approaching steps Grant noticed a fully armored individual, from what he could tell he was alone, but Grant was not easily fooled by appearances, he appeared alone that did not mean it was so. Turning his bulk of a body towards the man Grant meant his icy gaze as he approached without the slightest amount of fear. He stopped a couple feet away and just seemed to stare at Grant for a time as if he was trying to figure something out, the silence went on for a time before the man ended up breaking it first.

"Are you Grant the Super Mutant?"

Grant looked at the man with rocky eye's as he was curious as to just how this man knew who and what he was without so much as any indication they had meant prior to this time before. It was curious to Grant, but he kept his guard up either way even though it did not seem this man came to try and harm him.

"Yes I am Grant. You are very curious human to walk up to me like you have and seem to know me when I do not recognize you. Who are you and what do you want from me?"

"Who I am is unimportant needless to say, however what I want is to give you a message from my employer Mr.V, a powerful man who is in need of your particular set of skills for a very important job. I can not divulge a lot of details however a team is being assembled in The Hub, Madison bar two days from now, the pay out I assure you is steep. Can we can count on you being there Mr. Grant?"

Grant was a tad surprised to be called Mr, especially when the human knew what he was, however this man did not seem to care in the least of his race or species which for bad or worse was something that Grant respected.

"I will go to The Hub and meet this group then."

The man just nodded to Grant an then turned away to leave him to his business, almost like a mist he disappeared into the inky darkness of the wastelands.

Jacksons smiles at Dirge finding his Childlike nature amusing but refreshing than the hard exteriors he usually deals with. But that was not to last as he heard another voice behind him he quickly spun around to see the other super mutant standing there.
"haha Grant i was starting to think you wasn't coming, Six is believed to be the best hope against the Legion, its because of him the NCr managed to hold out at the dam for as long as they did" Jackson beacons grant to join the group before he continues " There is something about him that everyone wants, he managed to get factions that hated each other to work together, he aided those who were in desperate need, wherever he went he left behind good deeds and happy folk and at the dam he almost single handedly pushed the legion back, but what happened exactly we don't know, what is believed he was captured and now a prisoner. to be honest i would rather not have to go on this mission but the caps as you all can agree is to bloody good to turn down, If you wish however to walk away now you can and i won't hold it against you. the odds are not even close to being in our favor. You have till dawn to get any supplies you need, but don't over burden yourself, take what you need, I'll explain the plan tomorrow. Meet me here at 0600"

With that JAckson headed back into the bar and ordered another whiskey

RIna kicked around a pebble on the ground, raising her eyebrows as the enormous payout was described. She drowned out the remainder of the conversation once Jackson had given the instruction of meeting the next morning, reserving her opinions on the group of misfits until she'd had a chance to work alongside them.

---

Acosador paced slightly behind Rina, as she approached the small NCR outpost station tucked into the corner and away from any prying eyes. It was if this location was an afterthought and kind of just crammed into whatever building was available. A man behind the counter stood immediately as she entered, his glare softening a bit as he recognized her NCR ranger armor that adorned her lower half. He was still slightly tense, as any Raider could have looted the armor out in the wastes.

"State your business." he gruffly spoke, noticing the rifle slung along her back. Moving with slow, deliberate movements, Rina untied a burlap sack that had been hanging from her backpack and dropped it on the table.

"That's the head of Mr. Andrews. Perhaps you heard of him?" she asked, the darkened red stain on one side of the sack beginning to seep onto the table. "I'm here to collect the bounty on his head. You can double check. I'll wait." she confidently stated, crossing her arms across her chest and smirking to the man as he stared in horror. Clearly, this location didn't get to see much action anymore. What a shame.

---

She strolled through the paths of the entrance of the Hub, pouring the 1,000 cap contents of the purse into the already existing purse she carried, tossing the scrap of fabric into the humid breeze. The amount of caravans that were gathered at the entrance were significantly less than before the war. The traders seemed bored standing near their brahmin, looking up disinterestedly as Rina browsed their wares. She stopped at any caravan that had ammunition readily available and, with a flash of her caps purse, the vendors seemed to awaken with ferocity. Smirking to herself, she sought out only the best deals on the ammunition she'd require including various versions of .308 rounds and of course, .45 for the pistol this mama was packin'. She was stocking for this mission in thrice the amount she'd require for a standard mission. If it was not enough, she'd do her best to seek out another opportunity for trading unless she could scavenge what she needed n the field.

The young female vendor took the caps gratefully, clinging to them dearly as she shoved the box of ammunition into Rinas hands. She had a small Laser PIstol resting on her hip and Rina gave it a puzzling glance. "I sure hope you know how to use that thing, Little Miss." Rina slurred, raising an eyebrow to the girl. She noted the girls arms looked far to thin to be able to wield a larger rifle, but a laser pistol was plausible.

"Y-yes Ma'am." the girl readily said, perhaps a tad too quickly. She flicked her eyes to the other vendors behind Rina, no doubt staring daggers at her.

Rina clicked her tongue to the girl and placed her hand on the girls clenched fists. "I rented a room at The Shambles, near the Iguana-on-a-Stick stand, I'm sure you know where that is." She pulled her hand away, placing it lightly on her .45 pistol at her hip. She tilted her head behind her with a swift nod. "Any of these fools bother you, come see me. Room 4D." She turned on her heel, facing the semi-circle of traders and lifting her hands into the air. "Now, whose got some Purified Water?"

---

Rina knelt on the arid dirt, pouring some purified water into a small salvaged ashtray Rina carried in the small pocket of her knap sack. He quickly lapped it up and sat beside her, as a soldier would when awaiting further orders. Carefully, she packed the ashtray away, taking a swig of the water before screwing the top of her canteen back on, hooking the strap onto her belt tightly. She gingerly packed away the cases of ammunition she'd acquired, the various cans of Cram and Pork n Beans along side her back up bottles of Purified Water. Nearest the top, the jerkied meat she'd purchased lie next to the 7 stimpacks she'd paid good money for. Lucky number Seven, she thought as she tied the top of her sack, just glad to be gone of the stench of rotting flesh.

She slung it on her back, aligning her rifle alongside it and clicking her tongue to Acosador. "Come on boy. Time to have some fun." she told him, heading back towards Madisons bar, in search of another whiskey, and perhaps someone willing to try her in a hand of Caravan.

"Roger that, Sir. I will be here bright and early." Angelica says as she gives a mockery of the NCR salute to Jackson. She then turns and makes her way away from the group. She did not want to give the appearance of wanting to hastily put as much room between her and that group as possible, but that was exactly what she was doing. She would get to know the group soon enough and probably better than she cared for when the mission began. For now, this is the last night of solitude she was likely to get for a while.

To be honest the group was shaping up to be quite the force. Not one but two supermutants. She would not be surprised now to see a Night kin start following them. Both Supermutants would make the legion nervous. The basic legion recruit was not equipped well enough to take down a supermutant let alone two. Their more elite units however would be a problem though. The group also seemed to have a doctor. If he has such a title, he would have to be better than her. Yeah, Angelica knew how to treat a gunshot wound and how to splint a bone, but she would never be so confident as to consider herself a doctor. The Legion looks down on most medicine, so it is good to being our own doctor because we are not going to find one on the trail. The group also has a former Legionare. Angelica did not know how to feel about the legionare but she was getting paid well enough not to care too much. She felt about way about the man name Jackson.

Angelica went through the Hub making stops to get her supplies. She spent most of her earned caps on ammunition and repair kits for her energy weapons as well as rations. She packed her backpack as full of supplies as she could. She had no idea when she would get a chance to restock her supplies once on the road. Once she spent most of her wealth, she found a nice respectable inn to spend the night. She checked and cleaned her weapons and organized her supplies before hitting the pillow. She dreamed of the Arizona sunsets once again. She could not wait to see them again with her waking eyes.

As Dirty Dan enter Madison's bar After arriving at the Hub, he walked to the bar and asked for a Sarsaparilla. The bartender grunted and put one in front of him "12 caps" he said, hand still on the bottle. "Alright" counting out the caps, he placed them on the counter, not really caring, having just sold of his most recent haul of scavenged goods and buying up local raw materials, and netted a cool 743 caps. Taking the bottle from the bartender's hand, he walk to an isolated table against the wall of the bar. Sitting with his back to the wall, he drank his Sarsaparilla not bothering to hide his face, this was Hub. Scanning the room he looked for some more easy caps thumbing his deck in his breast pocket. The door opened and he looked at who came through; a slender dark-haired female stepped through. As the door closed, he caught view of a desert colored hound sitting beside the door on his haunches as she crossed the threshold, it nosed the gap as the door shut behind her. She walked to the bar , ordered a whisky and a glass. He scanned the room again, all the others looked like locals and regulars. This new woman seemed to be the only one who didn't belong. He pulled his cards from his pocket, and began to shuffle them. Looking back up at the woman, she was now nursing a half-full glass of whiskey she had poured herself. She scanned the room, her eyes meeting his, her eyes betrayed nothing, no distaste or hate.

"Need Something?" She asked loudly, downing the rest of her glass.
Dan indicated the cards in his hands, "Fancy a Game?"



Leaving the caps on the table, Dan pointed at them "Why caps of course, and it seems you are part of the reason I'm here" sweeping them off the table, he quickly pocketed them. "Unless you'd like to play again, I think the opportunities for some easy caps have dried up around here "

the next morning
---
The next Day Jackson awoke at 0400 to find himself outside surrounded by Whiskey bottles All empty par one, Sighing he looked around to gather his bearings and realized he was outside the Madisons bar, "f*ck sake" He gruft, he staggered to his feet checking for his 44. and his other essentials, Luckily he was blessed and did not have a hangover, a trait from his father no doubt.
After a few moments he started to make his way to his shack, an old Garage, after dialing in his entrance code he made his way to the back where a small hatch lead down to a bunker, it must of been a bomb shelter before the war as it was lined with the sort of protective shielding found in pre war military bunkers and vaults, Making his way to a locker he went straight for his most trusted weapons. A Hunting rifle marksman rifle he called the infiltrator and his Fathers old Combat knife.
he spent the next hour or so cleaning these weapons 3 times each, and cleaning his coat and armor doing any repairs that needed to be done Before being interrupted by a message coming through his radio. It was Mr V.

"Jackson are you there" the cold voice of his esteemed employer inquired
"Jackson here, what can i help you with V?" Jackson often hated speaking to the man there was something about him that seemed off but then again what would seem right with a employer that hardly ever shows his face.
"are you all set for the mission? i want you to leave at 0730 today and head out to utah, you will be entering the mojave through Zion and the Northern passage. meaning you have to take the long road round, this is the safest way to get there. seen as the NCR has no presence there, meaning legion resistance will be minimal." V's tone made it sound like it was a demand that was not up for debate. and jackson knew that Mr V would have his spies keeping check on us at least until we enter the Mojave.
"oh and one more thing Jackson" V's voice crackled over the radio "you will be posing as caravaniers you have brahmin waiting for you on the edge of town. Do not fuck this up"

Jackson left the radio and finished packing up his things. Posing Caravan, just great thats going to slow them down and make them a target. wonderful.

---

As he left his bunker locking everything up as tight than a New vegas virgin he waited for the team to join him

Rina woke in the morning, stretching like a cat in the light filtering through the rough shutters of her rented room. As she stretched she brushed against the warm skin of the female trader she met the other evening 'What was her name?" she thought to herself, 'Laura.. Jenna.. Tori..?'

It ultimately didn't matter, they had had fun with one another, snatching a moment of comfort in an oft desolate and despairing world.

She had encountered the merchant girl waiting at her door after stumbling out of Madison's bar at 12 in the morning. She had spent hours trading caravan victories with the good-natured (if slightly sleazy) scavenger and downing whiskey after whiskey. They had traded names, jokes and stories aplenty, none too serious and none too damning. She had recounted him with the details of her last bounty and the ease of which she was able to collect on the caps. He in turn had inform her of a few things he had learned to be of great value during his scavenging. They had parted on amicable terms, wishing each other well and ending somewhere between acquaintances and fast friends. Of all the ghouls she had met in her life he was certainly one of the most clever.

As she refocused on the morning at hand she stood from the bed, the blanket falling away from her to expose her bare flesh. She stretched again and let out a yawn of satisfaction. She checked the time on her pipboy, 0430, and nodded to herself. An average night sleep for her in town, she never slept quite as well as when she was out in the wastes roughing it with Acosador.

She looked once more upon the girl still sleeping in the bed before crossing the room and dressing in her gear. She sat at the small table that was provided and checked and cleaned Paciencia and the rest of gear. With a quick glance about the room, and one more longing stare at the inviting sight of the warm bed and the person in it she silently gestured to Acosador and led the way through the door into the warm glow of the morning sun.

~0515~
Rina finished her breakfast of delicious yucca fruit, a slice of brahmin steak, and purified water before laying her caps on the table and heading back towards Madison's bar to report in Jackson and officially introduce herself. Perhaps she could even snatch a sip of whiskey before officially departing.

Jackson Saw the Former ranger approaching as he sat on the a rock opposite the bar, He has to keep reminding himself that bars out this way weren't open 24 hours like those in the Mojave, so he sat cleaning his Visor on his recon helmet, checking all the wires we in the right location nothing was broken and that the enhanced vision and Night vision was working, As he saw Rina getting closer he yelled across "The bar isn't open yet but if you're a whiskey drinker i saved a bottle or two last night"
He waited for her to join him and handed her a bottle As she thanked him he responded "i doubt many bars will be open once we cross into the Mojave and even less likely when we get to Arizona, so we may have to go without for a while" the thought of this displease Jackson, he wouldn't admit it openly but he knew he was addicted to Whiskey but who could blame him after what he saw at the dam, most of the soldiers that were there and survived were discharged with PTSD or moved into an office job, but the civilians and volunteers like him at the dam had no help if they couldn't pay for it. so many turned to the bottle like Jackson.

" I must apologies for last night, not introducing you properly to everyone, theres just a lot of thoughts in my head at to moment, putting out his hand I'm Jackson Radford"

Andrej catched the sack of coins which was thrown by Jackson, 86 caps...atleast if that what he said was true.
Really Andrej could understand Jackson as he directly drifted from the past in the present, that what he saw was a miserable condition and if the legion did that to him, he did not wonder why he also took this job, wether the Courier 6 influenced him or not.
He also knew that Jackson was rather willingly to go solo and so admittting that he needs a group would have possible been a huge step for him, simply that fact made Andrej worry a bit. Andrej had life for a long time, really most people do not make it past 40 years in the wasteland but he? He had endured more than 50 and even travelled through many cities and so had collected many knowledge about many things.

It was no wonder why Jackson picked him but the rest was well slightly questionable. Two SUpermutant! Well those giant walking tanks could sometimes be reasonable and yet sometimes can be spoken to but when travelling with them they would stick out like a deathclaw in a brahim herd and well in Legion territority it would end as messy.
The ex-Legion guy was...a difficult pick, it does makes sense having a guide and someone who knows the habbits and structures of the legion but how related to the legion was he? Maybe he would sell them out but then the legion was not to be known to be that mercifull, so Andrej did doubt that he would cause problems.
Now what was left? The two female guns for hire? Mhh the one was a looker and did seem cheerfull enough but how many of that was charrade? The other? Quiet and certainly dangerous, she was one to not leave an eye upon since such quiet womens always have some corpses in their bunker.

Andrej shaked his head and continued to listen to Jacksons speech which was now done.
5000caps in legion currency, those ugly dimes~ Copied money from european history like the whole Legion idea, a desperate try to clench onto a ruined history, a forgotten history and reanimate and a collapsed empire. False gods, a golden lamb and so easily to fall in love with for those with a weak heart, for those with the false idea of a god.
Andrej saw the face of the true god, he knew his shape and also his colours, his stripes and stars...it was america, it was the symbol of that what was still alive...the enclave...America.
But well~ hard times are meaning hard measures and if that meant using Legion coins, that would be okey.

Giving Jackson no name for his list, he directly headed to get some supplies. He had used nearly all of his supplies for the way here, yet he had around 500 caps for buying .
The problem was that they had no packing-brahmin or other means to transport stuff and so~ What option would there be but carrying the stuff with a bagpack, with the same bagpack he is carrying around now. Well there would not be another option.
It would mean that they had to re-supply during the journey~ Hence this would mean that he had to buy ammonition, medical utensils and food for atleast two days not to forget water.
A Quick calculation and he had 5 bottles of 1L water, instant glue, bandages, 5 sryinges, 1L bottle of vodka, 3 x Rad-Ex, 6 Med-ex, some scorpoin glands and some night stalker blood to make some anti-venom and more more more. To make it quick he already surpassed 500 caps and so had to rethink all what he wants to buy.
Food first, the rest later~

Andrej headed to the market district and was suprised how quickly things changed, from the outskirt were crime was present any minute and one need to hope that he did not gets stabbed from behind, the market distrcit was tightly secured by NCR soldiers who cheked merchants and trander as well as people who wants to buy.
It was a tight security and that was no suprise, this city would otherwise be ruled by anarchy, merchants and traders trying to rip eachother off.
Hah if one would look at the history of the hub it already happened, the water dealers and the merchants wielded a bloody war against eachother to decide who would rue the city, it was then setteld by the NCR later who are now strictly judging about every law.
It was now pleasent to see that it worked and that order was now ruling in this most sinfull part of the waste. The NCR was incabable of many things but close to their own cpital they had power but the borders were fragile and way to thin and so they quickly loose power by exhausting their troops on the front lines.

Andrej gave a NCR trooper a friendly nod and skimmed throught he packed stands, stores and brahmin.
Quickly he found some bottles of clean water and for 5Litres he only had to pay 50 caps, a small price considering the high water taxes but Andrej gave him some infos on improving the water filster system so it was a nice thing that he lowered his prices. The merchant was friendly overall and so Andrej choosed to buy many things here.
The name of thi merchant was Hjun Kelvin and well he was also over 50 and so an old hare in this buisness. Andrej and him talked for a long time, about the Mojave, about this, about that, really a pleasant change to find a friendly face here.
In the end Andrej lost 300caps there but had most what he wanted.

The list said:
5Litres of water = 50caps
7 packages of dried brahmin meat = 100 caps
A doctor´s bag = 20 caps
5x Med-X = 100caps
a bottle of Rad-X pills = 50 caps
3xRad-Away = 78 caps
6x Sryinges = 10 caps
7x Brow-flowers = 5 caps
3x Xander-root = 12 caps
2x 1L mushroom Vodka (it´s impossible to drink but it has a good volume) = 40 caps
_________________________________
All in all he spent 465 caps and got nearly got half the things he wanted but well better than nothing eh? He even had to pic the cheap Xander-roor, Broc-flower combo to create a usefull stinpack, he had no lab and no caps to spent anymore so....well this had to work out. Hah the others had to deal with it, it was unlikely that he had to catch some bullets.
For 30 caps He now rented a room and headed to sleep~

The next day~ It was 5 o´clock and Andrej was crawling out of the bed, he opened one of the purchased water bottels and took a huge gulb and looked around in the room he rent. It was more likely a chamber, only a bunker bed with a insect infected bed and a rusty shelf holding it but then it had a working sink and a toilet. Andrej took care of more personal buisness and dressed himself.
30 caps for the room he got was way too expensive and so it was in Andrej´s interrest to let the owner know, he´s a decent man but well~ sometimes one had to make a point and furthermore he was now heading off to a mission and so it was unlikely he would ever return to this ragged down excuse of a civilised city.
So Andrej headed for the generator which runs this small shack and did some minor~~applications to it~. As soon as the owner would turn on the electricity the circuit of the generator would be over driven and so fry the damn~ it does happen from time to time and well~ the electrical chargers running the generator would never be missed as well, it gave Andrej two more mags for his plasma-rifle~ what a good day!

As Andrej arrived at the bar it was already 6am and so shortly before they would head towards wherever they need to be to save the courier and to gain the money they were promised but he still had some time to get more closely to the others~

Rina took the bottle from Jackson and gave a sincere "Thanks" in return. She took a seat and listened politely whilst unscrewing the top from the whiskey bottle and taking a swig. Acosador sat at attention beside her.

"I must apologize for last night, not introducing you properly to everyone, there's just a lot of thoughts in my head at the moment,"He paused to extend his hand. "I'm Jackson Radford". he introduced, an even tone evident in his voice.

She took his hand and returned the firm handshake as well as she could. "A pleasure to serve with a fellow Ranger, sir." She replied respectfully, taking the measure of the man who would be leading this mission.

Dirge kept up his odd smile up until the point he heard a rough voice that was not unlike his own rumble from behind the small group. Moving his goggle covered gave Dirge spotted the mound of a person that was the source of the rocky voice in question. It took about half second for the less than bright Mutant to recognize his own kind that was standing in front of him, though a bit longer to figure out what exactly what the new Mutant was saying. Dirge didn't really know how to feel about the mutant, all of his experiences with his own kind either ended with them attacking him or ignoring him all together. But nonetheless he approached the mutant, standing a good head or two above him, and offered him his large bulky hand. "Hello just Grant. Me Dirge." He said dawning his bizarre grin.

---

Once everything was said and done and the group started to go their separate ways Dirge felt rather lost, he didn't know what to do to pass the time until morning. So like a stray dog the mountain of a mutant set out and aimlessly walked the streets of Hub and just like a stray the people of the town offered him glares of both hate and fear. He wandered the town, offering his stomach turning smile to those he passed who responded with either a fear induced hello or a sneer of disgust, as the blazing sun finally set and the slightly cooler night air came over the town. Dirge found a rather large rock that was just on the outskirts of the town and fell with a loud thud to his rear before leaning against the almost bolder. He unstrapped his club from his back and set it to his side with a loud clang. Dirge then removed his hood before leaning his massive head back onto the rock. It was only a few moments before the loud buzz saw like snores started to escape from Dirge's ajar maw.
----the next morning----
Dirge awoke with a trail of partly dried spit flowing from his mouth and down his chin. The massive mutant let out a loud groan before he standing to his feet, letting out the sounds of a series of stiff joints cracking. With a stretch that sent out another series of gut retching cracks Dirge leaned down and reclaimed his club and strapped it to his back. He had no clue of what time it was but he knew that he was told to go back to the bar in the morning so that was exactly what he was going to do. So he pulled his hood back over his giant head and set off back through the town towards the bar, letting out a few Radroach scented yawns.

Dirge reached the bar and was just about to head in when he spotted the man from yesterday and a woman sitting on a rock near by. He grew his yellow smile and began to lumber towards them. "Good morning Jackford Radson." He said looking to the man before looking over to the woman near by. "Good morning pretty lady. Me Dirge." He said offering her his massive hand to shake.

Jackson chucked at Rina Calling him a soldier " My dear i'm no soldier, been many thing but the military life was not for me, I know that the old coat and my Helmet may look like i was a ranger or something i can assure you i was not, i found this in an old bunker back in Utah, with the name Advance Recon Mark II, From what i gather is was the Old American attempt at recreating chinese stealth armor, it provides a small stealth field when i'm crouching or prone, but it breaks everytime i move the helmet, is like your ranger helmets but it provided enhanced vision as well as night vision, very handy i tell you"

In the distance Jackson hears the loud footsteps, approaching, he knew it had to be one of the mutants seen as know one wore power armor in the group. as he turned he was greeted by Dirge
"Morning Dirge" Jackson replied in his usual even tone "you ready for our mission? got everything you need?" For some reason JAckson took a liking toward Dirge maybe it was his simpleness, whatever it was Jackson liked it, Being team leader he knew that everyone depended on him to lead them and hopefully not get them killed, But with Dirge he felt overly protective of him, he subconsciously made the choice that he wouldn't let anyone be mean to the Guy, it wouldn't seem fair,

As he glanced over toward the bar he Saw Andrej heading in, With a loud yell "Oi Andrej Over here!" hoping the old man would hear him, He was in luck as Andrej turned and changed his direction and started heading over to the assembled group.
Once he joined, up he started to address the small group before everyone else arrived, "Make sure you have everything you need, i will not be stopping while you run back home to pick up your one of a kind pistole or something, I want this to be over as quick as possible"
with a murmur of everyone around Jackson assumed that they had everything and proceeded to take a swig from his whiskey, He didn't know how he would cope once he ran out, hopefully a bar or two will still be open or if not they can scavenge some in whatever ruins they find. all he knew that this was going to be a long long mission.
He placed his helmet on his lap once again cleaning the visor with his scarf

Dan made it to his room after midnight without hurting himself. The room he rented looked like he did: Shit. Shrugging to himself he entered the room, and shut the door behind him. Walking over to the bed, he fell onto the bed, as thin as it was, it felt great. Soon after, he was asleep.

---

Waking up as light filtered in through the excuse of a window, Dan lay there on the bed of his rented room remembering last night, the reason for his splitting pain between his ears.

---

After winning the first game of Caravan, of which Blunt was none to happy about. Blunt challenged him several times, always wanting to walk away with more caps that she started with. So Dan bought another bottle of whiskey to share with his new brash opponent. Not making it easy for her to take his caps, they each walked away from the table that night with more information than extra caps.

---

Sitting up with his head splitting in half, Dan remembered why he didn't drink much. It was the only thing that wasn't different since 20 years ago. Cursing the hangover, he climbed out of bed and checked his person and backpack-both of which were in order. Gathering his things, he thought over what he knew and what he would do with this new knowledge: Blunt had mentioned she had paying work. She had told him nothing more than the work would take her East and not to expect to see her again. That little bit told Dan that the work was dangerous and paid well enough to risk it. Dangerous and going East could only mean she would be going into Legion territory, as they were now THE superpower in the Mojave. He thought with a smirk. She would surely leave plenty of bodies in her wake. That meant loot. But more importantly, he had another thought; anyone paying good money for a suicide mission, would send more than one person. It would be how he spent his money for something he wanted, like a way to go back to that day in Necropolis. Maybe he could get some work of the same pay. He put on his hat, thinking it might be time for a new hat. If he died, he wouldn't mind. As far as he was concerned, he had died 20 years ago. He had spent his time since staying beyond Deaths cold grasp.

Angelica woke up early like she planned and took her sweet time getting ready. She packed everything up into her pack and headed out. It was a very humbling feeling knowing everything you owned could be carried on your back. It let you have a sense of exactly what you were worth. All her possessions she carried and yet it did not amount to much. She was nothing and she knew it but it made her proud. There really was nothing the legion could take from her or at least she thought they could take nothing. She walked through the dark streets of the Hub towards the meeting spot and she was lost in thought. She was excited and scared about what journey they were about to undertake. She hoped she would survive to at least reenter the Mojove.

She rounded the corner onto the street of the bar and began walking towards the meeting spot. Already, with the help of the bars electric lights, She could see the Supermutant Dirge, Jackson and the doctor. She also could she a woman and a dog she did not know was among the group as well. Angelica smiled at herself. She thought she would be early but she looked like she was among the last to arrive. She finally walks up silently to the group and waits quietly.

Grant simply nodded his head as he watched Jackson walk back into the bar, slowly Grant pulled his hood back up over his helmet and went in the opposite direction. It was obvious that job was not going to be like taking out a raiders camp that much was obvious. He wondered if anybody else was feeling like they wanted out, it didn't seem like it but then again you never can tell with humans the way they often his crucial emotion. Grant liked to believe he was like that once upon a time, but the truth was after the transformation things like emotion are severely dulled even to the point of not being able to recognize certain emotions. But there was one such emotion all mutants had and that was anger without a doubt. But things like fear and remorse or dieing were not so big with mutants, hell no mutant feared death, and perhaps that was the reason why mutants died so hastily because without fear they are relentless in any situation. Grant wondered if that was the reason why he had been approached to go with that group... then again the other mutant in the group seemed more then enough for a mission if it came to size and no fear of death.

As Grant walked through the Hub many of the people he caught staring at him or starting to move in opposite directions, this town truly was no different then the others, and it was a sad and maddening thing when people classified his kind all into one stereotype, it was insulting to those Mutants who had ascended beyond that cannibalistic tendency, the ones who truly tried to live a life that was good and not wreckless killing. Sometimes Grant wondered what the point was in trying to convince these people that mutants were not all bad just different, truly sometimes even he just wanted to crush them all. But in the end it would only prove them right, that a dead mutant is a good mutant. Grant turned his course and walked into what some might consider a shadier part of town, one he knew quite well for he had a small place in this town that he retired too when life in the wastelands got a bit rough, most people avoided this part of town anyways so it was easy to slip in and out here and there.

The walk was short before Grant came to a small entrance at the end of a rather dank alley way in the Hub, raising his large hand he grabbed the handle of the door and wrenched it hard opening the door. The door was actually jammed when it closed so a good amount of strength was needed to pry it open, most did not even bother with it seeming the building was abandoned or so they thought. Walking in Grant closed the door behind him and descended down the narrow stair way ducking slightly to avoid the overhang at the bottom, walking to the door at the end of the hall he slowly applied a code to the panel, he cursed these panels honestly for his fingers were so big but he managed to input the code as the door clicked and he walked inside. The room was pretty big to someone who was human but medium size to him, walking across the room Grant came to the bed where a rather large locked case was present, it was very dusty for he had not opened it for a very long time, picking up the large case with mere ease he placed it on the bed and reached into his clocked and removed a key from his neck and slowly placed it in the lock opening the case.

Inside was a CZ57 Mini gun, a remnant of his time back in the vault he was imprisoned in, more like a trophy from the super mutant who kept him binded down there for so long. Pulling it out of the case the gun was pretty much in mint condition still, compliments to the gun store owner who fixed it up for him if one day he required the extra fire power. Until now he had no use for it, for he chose to use his hammer he had constructed, but Grant remembered what Jackson said that some of them might not return so it was best to perhaps be a bit more prepared this time just in case. Grant swung the weapon over his back and concealed it under his black cloak so it would not be easily spotted and clicked the leather strap tightly to keep it from moving too much. Turning Grant just left the open case on the bed and removed the two extra ammo boxes and placed them on his leather belt under his cloak. Now all there was that was left was too wait, Grant never slept, in fact it was impossible for any of his kind to really sleep due to the radiation so he just sat down silently and waited.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Time passed by slowly but soon enough the time to meet had come, Grant slowly ascended the stairs and walked out into the cool air of the morning, closing the door behind him it jammed once more and he left it behind himself. Grant liked the morning, there were barely any people around at this time of day and that suited him just fine, it was nice to have a walk where he did not have to worry all the much about getting attacked. It had not taken Grant too long to reach the meet up point, most of the humans going on the trip were there already and waiting, he silently took up a position near Jackson and slowly leaned against a near by building, he said nothing but waited to move out. Grant was not much for words unless the time called for it.

Jackson Greeted Angelica as she approached and did a quick headcount there was only the other Mutant and Randall left to join us, He tried to speak to everyone making sure he knew who was on his team, though he did not really care for who they were or their life stories he did care who he would have to back him up. Jackson had always been a lone wolf when he could help it, but his time as a caravan guard did help in this situation, he often took point during trips from outpost to outpost as the lead guard he knew his way around a gun and how to safely pass through dangerous roads with minimal difficult.
but this was different. The Mojave is different. No this would be more like the job Mr V first hired him for, but a lot longer and more - His train of thought was distracted as the other large mutant approached, Grant if he remembered correctly, Seen as he hadn't really had chance to speak to him before jackson made his way over to him to inquire about this tank of a being that stood in front of him.

"Grant, you all set for the suicide mission that could line your pockets for the next 5 years at least?" he tried to keep a friendly yet stirn tone not show any form of weakness to those who was counting on him to lead them.

Dan exited the hotel and looked around him. It was still early, but people were already milling about, vendors setting up to sell for the day, and even one or two kids chasing each other around with sticks. Focusing about the task at hand, he started walking briskly through Hub. Caps and adventure were foremost in his mind as he strode quickly past various buildings. He wanted to find Blunt before she left town. He rounded the corner of a ruined building, Madison's bar front came into view, and he came to an abrupt stop in his tracks. Standing about two buildings away from him in front of the bar was Blunt, and she wasn't alone either. Far from being alone, in fact. She was a top of a rock in the front yard of the bar, her faithful dog ever at her side. She was enjoying the company of another woman, 3 men, and a super mu-- no.. wait.. TWO super mutants. Seeing as how it did not look like she would be going anywhere soon, and even if she did, she wouldn't go unnoticed. He decided now would be a good time to see if the hat he wanted was still at the stall.

Approaching the semi circle of stalls, he looked over at the stall he was interested in. Sure enough, the hat was hanging at about eye level on the side of the stall. Dan walked up to the stall and started asking about his wares. The shop keep, seeing a potential customer, started rattling off his top stocked items that any traveler would love. Dan could give a fuck less. Finally, the shop keep stopped and asked what Dan would like to purchase.

"Well sir I came over today interested specifically in this hat but, now that I see closer I don't know if its a good purchase"



"100!!!! That is a good deal..... For you. You think you can rip me off? I'll give you 15 caps for it."



"And what if I offer my hat AND 20 caps? And that's me being generous!"



"DEAL"

Dropping the 50 caps and old hat on the vendor's stall, Dan grabbed the new hat and walked away with a smirk, leaving the sputtering vendor to himself.

Donning his new Stormchaser Hat, he began walking back to where he had last seen Blunt.