DirtyDingo

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Ignore that, working for me now.

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Hey team, is everyone else having an issue with the TVA discord? It seems to have just deleted itself on my end?

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Sarah Sinclair

"Words, have power."

_______________________________________________

Sarah looked around at the dishevelled and broken NCR troopers, the siege had clearly taken it's toll on the garrison. A few extra hands here and there had volunteered their services, the two ghouls Jeremy and Sam, two rangers named Jack and Red and of course the woman's initial quarry, Albert and Raven. She'd made herself comfortable in one of the now ruined watchtowers of Foxtrot, her cat like eyes scanning the horizon with a cold comportment. Virgil moved from station to station down below, the various troopers, rangers and traders having seemingly accepted that the Eyebot itself held some form of position of authority over them due to the recent coalition of Brotherhood and NCR forces. The Alaskan native continued to keep a watchful eye on the skyline, until the realisation would finally dawn upon her as the black of night began to creep across the horizon. That bird isn't coming back. At some point, another helping hand, calling himself The Handyman had ventured into the compound at the head of an NCR convoy. He seemed capable enough. Whether he had noticed Sarah up in her nested position in the ruins of the annihilated watchtower or not, she hadn't noticed. Nor, did she particularly care. She'd trusted that Virgil had made the necessary agreements and compromises in her absence, given how the robot had been programmed. She'd initially requested their rendezvous to have been much sooner, but with the chaos of the arrival of more friendly forces to the area, and the Handyman's chores taking up additional time, which she was not even sure their party had, the time of departure had been pushed back until nightfall. Before the sun had even finished setting, Sarah had clambered down from her perch and made her way to the rally point. She remembered anxiously spinning her Colt Navy upon her left hand's index finger in various directions, although it was unclear to onlookers whether this was through boredom or an inherent desire to show off as they trickled in. She wasn't too sure either. It had been far too long since she'd even seen a single person this close, and not through the glass of a rifle scope. Let alone interacted with this many at any given time. Had it not been for her stay at The Citadel and The Prydwen, Sarah would have wagered she might have never been in the presence of this many people in her entire life. After a brief wait, the newly formed task force had all rallied to her position. With an acknowledging nod, and not much protest from the others; the group set off into the night. Whether or not Virgil had briefed the group on their next assignment, Sarah did not care. If the brunette was perfectly honest, she'd have much rather be doing this on her lonesome. But command had deemed the formation of this group a necessity, and she'd not been one to question orders. Not since that day, at least. After a few days of silent navigation, which could have been made quicker were it not for the seeming inexperience of some members of the party, the worst of the culprits being Jack and Albert, who couldn't seem to keep their mouths shut. The party split into two groups, which Virgil had designated as Alpha and Omega respectively. Raven, at his own volunteering, had left the party with a small communicator array and the two Rangers and handful of NCR troopers to establish a forward operating base for the Task Force within the ruins of Vault 11. It had been rumoured to have sat unoccupied for many years, and Sarah had wanted that factoid confirmed. Such a position would be vital in taking the fight to The Regime, as would reconnecting with The Brotherhood Mojave chapter, though that would have to wait. She could entrust no-one present with the bunker's location, certainly not Albert...something had seemed off with the man. Even with his lengthy dossier, Sarah was not sure what the brass saw in him. He was an arrogant, decrepit old man with a penchant for violence. What possible use could he have, even with his connections in Freeside? Sarah knocked the thoughts loose from her head as the group came past an outcropping of rocks in the eastern Mojave, where sure enough; a ravenous horde of ghouls lumbered onwards.

Naruto: Fire From Ember (open/accepting)

Akira Senju

“I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage ever! Just like Grandpa Hashirama!”

_______________________________________________

Akira had almost wet himself at the boisterous young blonde's sudden appearance at Kenji-Sensei's legs beside him, holding out a slice of emerald skinned apple, which incidentally had matched the girl's eyes. "APPLE?!" Akira had hear her say, although he was sure she had not sounded anywhere near as scary to the other's present. The Senju boy wasn't even sure if she had shouted it, but nevertheless he retreated behind the legs of his newly appointed team leader all the same. "Sorry... My name is Lumika Suto, You might know my sister Kuree. We're from Sunakage. What is your name?" She continued, which eased Akira's inordinate and unfounded fears. Slowly but surely, the Hokage hopeful crept out from behind the legs of his new instructor, rubbing his head with his left hand. "Hehe, sorry, you scared me. But you seem really nice!" said the boy, reaching for the slice with his left hand, blushing as he did so; before putting it into his mouth sideways and making a smile of the sliced fruit and squinting his eyes. His cheeks still bright red with embarrassment. "I'm Akira Senju, and one day I'm gonna be the Hokage! I promise! Where are you from? I don't think I've seen you around the village or in school before. Akira slightly choked as he asked the question, due to seemingly swallowing the piece of apple whole without intending to. He heard his sensei give a boyish chuckle at his and Lumika's interaction before feeling the man rubbing the top of his head, saying "You get her, tiger." This made Akira's face turn a crimson red and weave the Rat, the Dog and ironically, the Tiger seals in order to bring forth a tiny wooden dome from the ground, encompassing himself within it in order to hide his embarrassment. Why does there have to be so many pretty girls?!

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Sarah Sinclair

”Hey kid! Good to see the bull botherers didn’t get ya’.” Sarah had heard the raspy and almost dead voice say from behind her. She'd have been lying if she'd said the sudden unimpeded entry of a ghoul to the scene, had not surprised her. As far as she had experienced, the NCR had an...unfriendly policy regarding their kind. However, given that it seemed that this 'Sam' character appeared to be on friendly terms with one of her recruits, she'd question the issue no further. I'm sure it has it's uses. She had thought to herself, before turning to address him. As the former...no...current; Paladin did so, she noted the arrival of yet another person to Foxtrot. Sarah would have to get used to that title again, it felt like it'd been an eon since she'd held a sense of pride for the association. However she snapped out of her thoughts as with an almost unnerving candour this Jeremy person had offered his services to the group. An anomaly she had not prepared for, additional crew members.

Stashing away the PIP-Pad with a deft and smooth motion, Sarah began to form hand signs towards the two new arrivals. Which Vergil translated in real time. "If any of you should be brave enough to join us, you are of course welcome. I cannot agree to nor promise any quantified payment, but I can give assurance of some form of compensation for your service. However, as you are unknown entities to my mission, until clearance is granted by my superiors. You will not be extended the same clearances and details as Raven and Mr Brosnovic here-" She had started, before being sternly interrupted by Albert from behind a tipped hat. "Albert is jus' fine missy. Ain't gone by my surname in a looong time. Fer good reason." he explained, as a slight tension began to fill the air once more. Sarah's right hand began to instinctively hover above her Colt Navy's grip in it's holster at the mounting discomfort, though she had not realised she had done so. With a laugh from Albert, the tension was diffused as the man turned away, heading off towards the Foxtrot barracks.

"Anybody whom is so brave enough to join our cause, aside from those whom have been conscripted, reconvene at the gate within twenty minutes. Time is of the esssence. Vergil announced, without any signal to do so from Sarah. It was as she did so, that the woman had realised she had readied herself for a gunfight in plain sight of the NCR. Clearly, she had spent too long alone. Not that it wouldn't have ended extremely badly for the NCR stationed had the situation escalated...

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Sarah Sinclair

With a disapproving and almost childish frown, Sarah returned her curved machete to it's scorched leather sheath at her hip as she allowed herself to be surrounded by the NCR remnants. She'd been given a census on the garrison of Foxtrot, and if these men and women were all that remained, she'd have to admit that the Legion raid had been successful, to an extent. As the negative expression faded from her face, Sinclair swept her ashen brown hair away from her brows and nodded to the two men she had been dispatched to recruit, before proceeding to make a series of hand gestures directed at Brosnovic, with Virgil seeming to commence a scan of her hands as she did so. "I am here on behalf of the Brotherhood and NCR coalition, under direct orders from Elder Maxson at the request of the council. I've been tasked with the gathering and formation of an elite team. Your President Kimball and Colonel Stanstead have seen to it that the two of you should no longer be assigned to this garrison. I have the order in writing here." She had signed, with Virgil translating the movements into English as she did so. Before reaching into her satchel and pulling forth the PIP-pad which had been bestowed upon her by Arthur Maxson.

"As for why you, Mr Rivers. Your dossier informed those in the know within the Brotherhood that you have had extensive...shall we say, experience? With the Legion. This will be invaluable for the mission." Virgil had stated, seemingly of his own accord as Sarah's hands were otherwise occupied with revealing the reassignment order to the two men. This prompted a wry grin from the grizzled Albert, as he exhaled a plume of smoke one would expect from a combustion engine. Not a cigar. "Well now ain't that just sweet, but what about me. I ain't sure if ya noticed. But I'm a long ways past my prime. What'cha want with stiff old board such as meself?" Albert had joked as he threw the remnants of his cigar to the ground, grinding it out with the heel of his cowboy boot. Prompting a jingle from the rusted spur at it's back.

Sarah simply looked at the man, her expression changing from neutral, to one that screamed it's own accusation. Virgil didn't speak any further, instead merely hovering closer to it's master. "Oh, so yer lot knows about that huh? Well. Guess there ain't much more needin' to be said. Raven, we oughtta pack'r shit. I'd wager this is gonna be a long trip.

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Sarah Sinclair

Before it'd had another opportunity to complain, Sarah latched the end of her rope to a notch upon the back of the eyebot, which was seemingly designed with exactly the eccentric manoeuvre that was about to be attempted in mind. Without so much as the slighest pause, the Alaskan native leapt from the bay door of the Vertibird; and Vergil's hoverpads shifted into overdrive as the pair began to slowly but surely descend into the chaos of the battlefield below. Raising her revolver, Sarah let loose one of the forty-four magnum rounds, which sailed into the groin of one of the legionaries which had made it into melee range of the lone ranger at the forefront of the siege. The man rolled out of the path of the returning gunfire and into cover as submachineguns were unleashed in the direction of the woman. It was clear that these men were inadequately trained, as she was far from their effective ranges. With a violent tug of her off hand, Vergil and Sarah were forced to the ground, the woman releasing her grip on the frayed length of rope at the last moment in order to hit the ground in a combat roll.

Two men rushed her as she rose to her knees, but Sarah's hands moved so fast that if an onlooker had blinked, they would have surely missed the movement of her bringing the colt navy to her hip, fanning it's hammer four times as she held down it's trigger. The fusillade of magnum rounds was inaccurate for sure, but at this distance accuracy was not what she required. The high powered rounds ripped a pair of holes through the midsection of one of the attackers, felling him instantly. The second was undeterred by the savaging pf his comrade however, and continued his advance. Sarah had tried to raise her handgun for a more accurate shot, knowing that the final round in the cylinder needed to count. But the legionary was too swift, managing to close the distance between them in a mere second. With a thunderous pushing kick to her chest, Sarah was knocked to the ground. She'd had to concede to him, despite the horrific stories she'd been told of these men. They were nothing if not relentless. As the woman tried to bring her revolver to bear, the masked legionary whom was clad in the customary crimson of his faction stomped on her arm, pinning her arm to the ground as she made all the bodily motions of a guttural scream of pain. Yet no sound passed from her lips. She'd thought it may have been the end for her, as the man held aloft his machete for the killing blow.

The sickening crunch of a shattering skull soon put an end to that notion however, as the ranger she'd covered not moments ago slammed the buttstock of a laser rifle the likes of which she'd never seen before into the back of his unarmoured head. Knocking him to the ground as a sea of crimson erupted from his skull. Taking no chances, the grizzled veteran un loaded a salvo of lasers into the legionary's back. Making sure he'd not rise to his feet again before offering his hand to the grounded Sarah.

"Now what's a pretty lil' thang like you doin' fallin' from the sky like that in a place like this?!" Albert asked, his tone joking but also clearly grateful for her arrival on the battlefield. Seemingly in the nick of time. Without a word of response, and not seeming to acknowledge Albert in the slightest beyond accepting the help to her feet. Sarah retrieved her revolver and holstered it, and it was in that moment that energy munitions began to rain down on the remaining legionaries from a distance, finally forcing the scum into a retreat, just as Sinclair had pulled her own machete from it's sheathe with her left hand. "Hold on there missy, ain't no use chasin' em. More risk than it's worth." Albert had said, grabbing Sarah by her forearm as she had attempted to give chase, in an effort to run down the fleeing men. As her advance was entirely halted and the unbelievable grip of the clearly older man, she was forced into a spin. Causing her to instinctively turn the weapon on the man. Fortunately for Albert, it was in the realms of close quarters where he had always proved to be most dangerous. In a blur of motion, before she'd even realised what had happened, Albert had relieved her of her blade, and sat her ass back down in the dirt. Leaving her completely confused.

"I'm not yer enemy darlin'." he said, with a half smile as he spun the curved machete around, handing it back to Sarah. Before asking her name and giving her his. To which of course the woman gave no reply. Fortunately, Vergil found his way over to the pair in the nick of time, as the honorary ranger was clearly losing his patience by the second. "This, is Sarah Sinclair. Here on behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel. Apologies for Miss Sinclair's seeming lack of manners. She is a mute. I am her personal Vocalisation and Interpretation Robot, Given in Love. You may call me Virgil for short. We are here seeking a Raven Rivers, and an Albert Brosnovic. Could you please point us in their direction sir?" Virgil had said, seemingly easing the tension as Sarah snatched back her blade from the man.

"Well, you happen to be in luck. Albert Brosnovic, reporting. Although not too sure what one of you steelers is after me fer. I'd suggest you get explainin' real quick, mind." Albert had said, finally formally introducing himself as the fires of battle around the group came to a close, and the remaining NCR troopers stationed at Foxtrot surrounded the woman and her robot. Sarah looked to the sky, and noted that the Vertibird which had carried her into the Mojave, was now nowhere to be seen.

"My, this could prove to be problematic." Virgil had said, prompting a sly chuckle from Albert, as he brought a fresh cigar to his lips. Lighting it with his still searing rifle's barrel.

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Sarah Sinclair

It felt strange, being back in the innards of a vertibird in flight and not being it's pilot; which was made even worse without the comfort and stability that power armour used to provide in such situations. Humans were never meant to fly, and the harsh airspace of the Mojave reminded Sarah of that fact as vicious turbulence and savage winds buckled and bent the craft's flight path as it traversed the Nevada airspace. The Alaskan native gave a silent sigh as she flicked and scrolled through digital pages on the PIP-pad, which had been given to her by Elder Maxson during their earlier meeting. Glyphs and symbols of both a foreign language and of the English lexicon appeared and disappeared rapidly whilst she skimmed through their contents; dossiers on two men named Raven Rivers and Albert Brosnovic. Of the former, very little was known to the Brotherhood or NCR forces, or at least very little had been disclosed in the file.

Of Albert, however. There was much to be said amongst the files. If anyone were to be instrumental in the operation she'd been tasked with completing, it would be him. She doubted there was another in the entirety of the wasteland who'd know the ins and outs of the strip as well as him. Virgil hovered closely, almost seeming to be reading over the woman's shoulder as the hovertech built into the EyeBot shifted and weaved to keep itself eerily steady in the hold as everything around it.

Their first target? The Ghoul.

As part of the Treaty of the Iron Bear, the diplomatic answer to the previous hostilities between the NCR and the Brotherhoood of Steel, the Brotherhood had agreed to find a solution to the gargantuan horde of ferals that had roamed it's way into the Mojave; although given the minimal resources that had been provided to her it was clear that the horde was incredibly low on their list of priorities. Arthur knows of my past, of Anchorage and of Little America. Is it possible that this is the only reason he has chosen me for this mission? Standard procedure for such circumstances as this, the vertibird would have been given to a knight squadron and the horde would be gone in an hour at most. After all, ghouls can't fly. And they certainly are not immune to massed missile fire. Sinclair began pondering to herself, something wasn't adding up. Least of all how the Brotherhood had even managed to find her in the first place. She'd been navigating the western coastline, through NCR territory on her way back to Anchorage when they'd picked her up and taken her to the Prydwen.

But none of that mattered now, as she and her ever faithful robotic companion made their descent. "Five minutes out Sarah. You know what to do...wait...what the hell is that on the ridgeline?!"

Albert Brosnovic

"Yeah I know kiddo, we really gotta get to work on them comedic timin' skills o' yers-" Albert had begun in jest as the two exited the , chuckling lightly before a 7.62 round careened straight through his left shoulder. Growling in agony, the grizzled wasteland veteran was knocked to the ground from the sheer velocity of the round. Legion...Dangit, if I'dve stayed out there a little longer I'd have spotted them bastards. He thought to himself as he pulled a fresh cigar from his case, clenching it between his teeth.

A grunt and a moan signalled Brosnovic's return to his feet, slamming a freshmicrofusion cell into the breech of his trusty tri-beam rifle. With a flourishing spin of the weapon he cocked it's lever, locking the cell into place and initialising the weapon's charging sequence. Almost on queue, the gates from which he'd previously entered through blasted open with the furious detonation of a man portable missile. Shortly afterwards, came the first of the attackers. The first of the dead. He thought to himself as he unleashed a salvo of laser rounds into the chest of the first through the breach. Six more beams made impact whilst the foe fell from the initial grouping, as the honorary ranger let two more trigger pulls be the legionary's end before he'd even finished hitting the floor.

Age had truly caught up to him, in his hayday he'd have emptied the whole cell into both of the attackers before they'd even crossed the line into Foxtrot. But that had been forty something years ago, and old dogs can't learn new tricks. Before he had a chance to make a witty remark, the second man was upon him, swinging his machete wildly overhead. With a dishonorable, yet swift kick to the groin, Albert felled the man to his knees before unleashing a trio of lasers into the legionary's face at point blank range. Killing him instantly as his skull exploded into a sea of gore. He'd lost track of Raven at this point, and as concern seeped into his mind. Four more legionaries came rushing through the gate, however with the crack of rifle fire in the distance, two of them slumped to the ground holding their throats.

Sarah Sinclair

Sarah gently exhaled through her nose as she let the two rounds fly at lightning speeds. Her hands almost untraceable by the human eye as she reracked the bolt on her chinese-made rifle twice in rapid succession. The side doors of the vertibird now open despite still being airborne. With a menacing smirk, the woman lowered her rifle and made a series of gestures with her off hand. "Miss Sinclair requests that you move us closer, Lancer Adams." Virgil translated, and without a word in response and the bay doors still open, the pilot shifted the bird back into motion and darted towards the ongoing battle. Readying her signature handgun with a spin on her middle finger as she pushed her rifle onto her back, Sarah pulled her length of rope from her satchel.

"Oh no, do we have to do this one again? It's been so long. Virgil had begun to chime in, when a missile sailed through the air and in a freakish stroke of luck, passed straight through the open hold and out the other side. "Yes, I guess we do."

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Is this still alive and kicking? If so I'll put in a sheet tomorrow.

@Jonesy

@Jonesy I'll be closing off to new applicants soon. So if you are still interested please do hit up the discord or pop something in here.

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

It was unusually cold, on the decks of the relatively recently constructed flagship known as the Prydwen. It's halls were dimly lit with cool blue hues as it lumbered through the airspace of western California into Nevada. Onboard intercoms roared to life, calling the various dedicated aircrewmen known as Lancers to action, a caste of soldiery brought about during the recent Maxson reformations. The Lancers, like any other of the other chains operated like one of the well oiled machines they so revered. Scurrying about with a silent, eerie efficiency even in spite of their various flight suits and recon armour. In the shadows of the airship's halls, amidst the darkness; an electric blue LED display buzzed to life. Before showing an image of the famed "Vault-Boy" smiling.

"Is that our signal for departure, Miss Sinclair?" came a synthetic voice, with almost playful tones. A creepy silence ensued, before the rustling of gloved leather hands rubbing together became audible. The EyeBot seemingly replied to nothing. "As you wish, so shall it be Miss Sinclair."

Gentle footsteps began to beat the grated steel deck of the Prydwen as out from the shadows stepped a woman whose usually pale skin was wrought with patches of sunburn. Her fine, dark brown hair fell behind her shoulders, despite one side being shaven. And a red cotton underlayer beneath a tanned leather vest bearing various nicks and burns from obvious combat duty and wasteland survival as she stepped into the light. She gave an almost child-like grin as she began to clap to her EyeBot, before signing to the machine, as she had done so before in the midst of the shadows.

"Yes yes, of course Sarah. Virgil said, before it's display abrudplty shut off. Almost instantly, Sarah Sinclair's face went from childish glee to a murderous thousand yard stare. With hands like lightning, the Alaskan native drew her signature revolver, a heavily modified Colt Navy, a famous handgun from a conflict long before the Great War. and began to spin the weapon on her index finger as she broke into a lengthy, yet almost silent stride. Her meeting with the Brotherhood Elder earlier in the day replaying in her mind.

"We may have exiled you from our chapter for your actions that day Sarah; but I see in hindsight you did what needed to be done. Granted it was reckless, and you nearly got yourself killed merely because you cared about her...but I am man enough to admit that I was wrong. The steel was, and still is strong within you. We need that steel for this mission, if it is to have any hope of success."Elder Maxson had said, placing his large, gloved hand on the woman's shoulder as the comparatively gargantuan man stepped closer to his guest. Enveloping the whole thing in his grasp of camaraderie.

The Anchorage native's brow furrowed in anger as she pushed his hand away, backing up and rapidly signing as she did so, before sticking the middle fingers of both of her hands up at her former Commander and giving a sarcastic smile. Virgil's voice had sparked up after the fact, with almost a tone of worry in his vocaliser as he had chimed in. "I'm not sure I should translate that one sir."

"You don't need to Virgil. Activate protocol six subroutine twenty four." Maxson ordered, after a heavy sigh. The AI within Sarah's droid was limited, and prone to bouts of forgetfulness due to limited memory processing and storage outside of it's translation matrix. It had been a long time, but the Elder had always assumed the bot would remember who his original master was. Apparently he had assumed wrong.

"Negative." Virgil responded, leaving Arthur Maxson in utter disbelief at what had just occurred, his eyes widening as the EyeBot continued. "A very good friend of ours had my systems upgraded even further before we came here. To account for the event that you should try to reclaim me. I'm afraid you would now have to destroy me to prevent me leaving with Miss Sinclair, sir."

"I see...I can't say that I'm surprised. You always were resourceful, Sarah. But listen, the opportunity to rejoin the chapter isn't the only thing I'm offering here. I believe, that this would mean a lot to you." Arthur said, with frankness and sincerity in his tone as he reached behind his back. The slip of steel against leather was audible as he had pulled forth a handgun which was all too familiar to Sarah Sinclair from it's holster.

By the time she had snapped back to reality, she had found herself on a scaffolded balcony in the Prydwen's main hanger, overlooking the vertibird that was being prepped for her deployment into the Mojave. "Are you sure about this Miss Sinclair?" Virgil had asked as his master rubbed her index finger across the suppressor, the name 'Charlotte' engraved in cursive text into the right hand side. With one final spin of the esoteric weapon, she holstered it at the right side of her hip and made a right angle with the tips of her index finger, tapping them together. Positive

"As you wish."