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In the Mojave [Lady Grimoire x rskde]

Lady Grimoire

Lady Grimoire

Star
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Location
Canada
In The Mojave
The Land of the Bear and the Bull​

Some tell the tale of a Courier, who awoke after what should have been a mortal wound and set off into the Mojave in pursuit of a platinum casino chip. From Goodsprings, through to Primm, Nipton, and Novac, they touched more than a few lives. However, word of mouth fails to say what happened after they set off for New Vegas. None have seen hide nor tail of the Courier, or the platinum chip they were after since. Dead in a ditch, or wandered off to greener pastures? Who knows. What people do know is the Bear still holds the Dam, with the northern Mojave and the Bull still has its eyes upon it while it roams to the south. Clashes are frequent and brutal, some are saved, some are dead or wish they were, as it is in war. War never changes.

Another such clash was just beginning, wrought in misunderstanding. Two tales of others entwining, for now, neither worthy of even a footnote in history. In time, perhaps that would change, perhaps they would be spoken of like the Courier, perhaps even more pivotal than what the Courier could have, or should have been. Only time would tell.

It was another hot, humid, and sun-drenched day. Molerats hid in their burrows awaiting nightfall, and the Radscorpions lurked about looking to make a fresh meal of the only ones dumb enough to be tackling the desert at its worst--people. There was no short supply of people about, from NCR patrols, wastelanders looking to get lucky, caravans from Crimson Caravan shuttling between towns, and Legion raiding parties. The lattermost, coupled with a touch of psycho-pumped gangs and roaming slavers were what left Ashley most on edge. Lone women in the Mojave didn't get the luxury or mercy of a quick shot to the brainpan when they proved a bit difficult, no, they just got it worse afterward. If nothing else could be said of her, Ashley certainly was someone difficult.

“Fucking raiders… “ Ash muttered under her breath. One hand gripped the rifle she peered through the scope of, while her other adjusted the sights. Tight leather armor covered her thin form, buckles and belts holding the dark protective material to her body. A body which was covered by a tan-covered tarp as she laid out prone on one of the dunes overlooking the canyon’s Nipton-side exit. Despite her words, she had a little smirk on her ruby lips as she pushed up on her elbows and cosied into a more proper position to brace and control the rifle’s kick.

‘About damn time,’ she thought as she sighted in on the lead man. She had let a dozen people pass her by the last two days. Wastelanders and traders, or people’s identities she couldn't be sure of. Even an NCR patrol, the last people she wanted to deal with. Half the damn reason she came down to Nipton was because she's heard the NCR abandoned it after the Legion torched it, and that turned out to be true. What she didn't hear was most everyone else avoided it too out of fear of the Legion coming back, leaving her to trek out in search of supplies. It not only had been two days since she set up shop, it had been two days since she’d eaten. Her stomach groaned and grumbled at the thought, and Ashley took a breath. “You bastards better have food.. “

Some water and some ammo was all she had left, and she had no qualms against putting down some raiders or slavers to get some more. These men didn't seem to be carrying packs of supplies or clothes like traders would, they were dressed light, like Legion, but not wearing Legion colours. Each second that passed as she debated their identity was another second for them to spot the glare off her scope, or get somewhere she didn't have a clear shot, but she needed to be sure. Fortunately the more she observed, the more she became sure they were just some Vipers who were known to stalk the canyon, and who she had gotten other supplies from.

Exhaling, her finger started to squeeze the trigger as she aimed for center mass on the lead man. Right before she put a piece of hot lead into him, something suddenly snagged her foot and yanked. The rifle shot off, the bullet hitting the dirt near the group while Ashley rolled, and kicked. Her motion threw up the tarp, and her boot connected with the side of the canine’s head making it whine and back off. Hairless, and mutated, vicious dogs weren't uncommon but fuck did it have the worst timing.

It leapt toward her now unprotected front, and Ash quickly pulled her revolver and pulled the trigger with abandon. The beast slumped onto her leg, dead, and she kicked it off. Her ankle ached, but the dog hadn't made it through the tarp and her boot combined. Quickly she rolled back to the rifle, picked it up and.. found the dirt kicking up around her as the distraction gave her position away and the men zoned in on her. “Fuck! Fuckfuckfuck!” she hissed, ducking down and blindly tugging her rifle back to her body. When the shots stopped, she peeked up, and got another pair of shots in answer making her duck back down.

Ashley kept still a moment, and when the shots stopped she slung her rifle over her shoulder and kicked the dog’s remains again. “Asshole!” she hissed before spinning around and getting on her belly, crawling her way a bit further down the dune until she was low enough from the top she was able to get,up in a crouched position and start scurrying away. In a second she went from thinking she was eating tonight, to getting the hell away so she wasn't some raiders’ cocksheath tonight.

However, the people she shot at weren't so quick to give up. The next hour was harrowing, brief exchanges of fire between both groups as Ashley found herself chased back in the direction of Nipton. Cursing under her breath the whole way for the stupid mistake. Outnumbered, she knew she was screwed in a straight fight, so she kept running. Up until the point she came upon the bombed out buildings on the edge of Nipton. Eyes quickly scouting them, she dashed into the first one that appeared to be isolated, and up the stairs to the second floor.

Tossing her pack down as she reached the top, she went into her pack and took out a pair of mines. Arming both, she set them down slightly covered by the mat at the top before she slipped into a nearby room and closed the door. A couch near the window was perfect, and Ash quickly set herself upon it, rifle barrel resting on the couch’s arm with the tip poking out the broken window. Aiming through her scope, she waited, they had been following her pretty close and she was certain they would be coming from the direction she now set her sights on. Maybe this time she could do the ambush right, or she was going to go down trying. No way she was letting four raiders take her alive. No fucking way.
 
Even though the five man patrol carried NCR service rifles, they were dressed like normal civilians with some light armor pieces on them, particularly chest, shoulder, and knee plates to keep them safe from incoming fire that they might receive. Each of them wore a backpack with slightly purified water in it, small tubes reaching from their packs and ending at the shoulder pads of the packs, so that the carrier can easily turn their head to take a drink without stopping their hike through the Mojave. It was supposed to be a scouting party through Nipton, make sure everything was doing okay before the real party was to begin; the NCR planned to retake Nipton and restore order. Hopefully this time there would be a bigger garrison.

Things had been hard for them out here in the Mojave, after all it was always hot and the team was almost always under attack from mutants and raiders, though today seemed like it wouldn't be one of those days, considering that they had moved towards Nipton with relatively no resistance whatsoever, which made the team very complacent. Maybe it would be different today. With high hopes and plenty of supplies to last them until they got back to HQ, the recon team progresses with their primary mission.

So far the goal of the NCR was to retake the parts of the region that had been lost to Caesar's war machine, the fighting had been going on between the two factions for what felt like years now with little to no progress on either side, other than the fact that the NCR now fully controlled New Vegas, as the ex-owner of the casino that had been in power all of these years was finally gone, as the Courier had taken him down. With more recruits and much more money to back them, the NCR found it appropriate to begin the reclamation of the Mojave Wastes.

This patrol was apart of that, highly trained NCR Rangers who were well known through the ranks of the NCR were perfect for this mission, as it would require a lot of time out in the field, and a lot of time in combat. Luckily none of them had perished yet, they were the best of the best after all. It would take a lot more than Raiders and Mutants to bring down even a single member of the team, though Raiders and Mutants never really had formal training. Really at the end of the day, the only skill this team had was a knack for survival, knowing when to retreat and knowing more than the most common enemy out in the Wastes.

They had been going according to plan, walking along the major roads in Nipton, clearing out any raiders or mutants that stood in their way. They were on their way back into the city after a brief pause in their trip, having to take some time to secure the outskirts of the city before they could progress along the main mission route, when very suddenly a shot echoes in the near distance, the bullet landing near the pointman's feet, causing the whole group of five to jump into cover. Almost immediately their rifles were firing in the direction of the shooter, who was beginning to fall back into the city now. They were probably a raider who had gotten wise, or maybe even a Legion assassin.. Either way they couldn't allow this one to stay alive, so they continued pushing in an attempt to corner their assailant.

The pointman who had originally been shot at, Ryan, takes cover behind one of the small buildings in Nipton, the streets now clear as the gunfight progresses. He wears a dark leather jacket, a t-shirt underneath of it that had the front and back covered by an armor plate, his shoulder pads on top of his jacket. He wears jeans with armored knee pads and a pair of NCR-issued boots. On his head he wears sunglasses and an unmarked helmet with a pair of covered goggles secured to the front of it, the straps tightened under his chin to keep him protected. On the lower half of his face he wears a black bandana in order to keep his identity hidden, much like the rest of the recon team.

The patrol pushes up through the street, taking cover quickly to observe the area.. It was practically a perfect sniper alley. Ryan uses his rifle to break a piece of glass from a window, taking the glass and using it to look around the corner of the building that he was hiding behind. (Rolling 10d, over 5 = He sees the barrel of her rifle, 5 and under= he doesn't, rolled a 5) he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary about the street, maybe they were just being too cautious. After all, the majority of raiders would rather save their own skin than go down fighting, so he gives the all clear to his team, he doesn't take point this time as they start moving into the sniper alley.
 
The couch isn't comfortable. Ashley could feel a spring jutting up under her stomach, pressing into the side of her tight leather padding--the armour kept it from hurting, but it's damned uncomfortable. Down by her feet, the other armrest and part of the couch had collapsed, leaving her legs awkwardly positioned with one leg pressing into what remained and the other bent at the knee with her heel in air. Like some teenage girl relaxing on her bed. What's more, Ashley released she'd left most of her ammunition in her bag. In her haste to get into a good spot, she had neglected to grab more than what was left in her rifle.

That meant she had to make every shot she fired count. A task easier said than done.

Ash was at the opposite end of the street, on the second floor of a paired set of buildings, looking out the one window. She hoped the broken glass of the window she aimed out of would mask any reflection from her rifle's scope. For a moment, she thought she had lost them, and then--one darted across the street. A second followed, and she cursed under her breath. However, this time she knew there wasn't going to be some damned mutated dog interrupting her, so she took her time. Deep, slow breaths, tracking each man that ran across the street. Trying to ignore that couch groaning under her weight.

When the last man in the line started to move up, she shifted her rifle ahead of where he seemed to be running. She waited for him to cross her scope, and then, she pulled the trigger.

Crack-oom!'

The sound of it echoed down the alleyway, fortunately, Ashley's voice didn't as she let out a rather loud: "Fuck!" She mistimed the shot, the man kept moving and made it to the other side and cover, and now, nobody else seemed to be coming out. One leaned out and tried to return fire, making her duck her head down as the window got peppered and some of the glass shattered--she fired back, almost blindly, knocking off a chunk of rock right next to the man who had been shooting, and making him duck back into cover.

Silence fell. Ash shifted on her couch, uncomfortable, irritated at herself, and anxious as all hell. The mines would tell her if anyone tried to get the drop on her, she was sure these guys wouldn't be able to get down the alleyway. Maybe she would just need to sit tight until they gave up, lost interest, decided it wasn't worth it--something. Gritting her teeth, Ash's tongue slipped passed her lips some as she stared carefully down her scope, swinging the view from left to right, watching for even the slightest hint of movement.

"Come on, just give me one more shot... "
 
Ryan had figured that going last would be the easy part, however it seemed that this time the sniper kept her sights square on him. The shot snaps past him, causing him to fall over from the shock of nearly losing his head. One of his teammates grabs the handle of his vest and drags his ass back to cover. "Fuck!" Ryan says while shaking slightly, he had given the all clear and it had nearly killed them. "Fucking hell, did anybody see the fucking sniper?" He asks, one of his teammates nods to him. "They're in the building at the end of the street, top floor, widest window." He reports, making Ryan nod. "All of you are gonna lay down as much fire as you can on that window, and I'm gonna push up there and fuck them up, clear?" He asks, his team nods.

He gets himself ready to run, slinging his rifle across his back. "Covering fire!" He yells, making his team peak out of cover, spraying the window with hellfire, bullets peppering the wall, the window, and the inside of the apartment building that the sniper had been hiding inside of, making it practically impossible for the sniper to peak out without getting their head taken off. The team rotates fire, only two of them firing at a time so that they could keep up the fire constantly. Ryan books it up the alleyway, running towards the building as fast as he possibly can before moving into the building. His team stops shooting once he was safe inside and ducks back into the cover they had taken behind the buildings.

Ryan pushes into the building, making his way to the top floor as quietly as he can, his rifle resting in his hands as he checks his corners, feeling very anxious about being in this sniper's hideout. He makes his way towards her room. [Rolling dice, 5 and over = he sees the mines, under 5 = doesn't, rolled: 4] Ryan approaches and hears a small click as he steps on one of the mines. The sound was audible enough that he knew not to move or he would be filled with shrapnel in a millisecond. He crouches down and examines the mine, looking for any mechanism that he could use to attempt to disarm the mine under his foot, hoping that the sniper didn't hear his steps otherwise he would be very dead. [Rolling dice, 5 and over = successful disarm, under = loses his chance to disarm the mine, rolled 6] Luckily he was able to find the mechanism inside of the mine, he presses down and the mine disarms, allowing him to step off of it and approach the room.

"In the name of the New California Republic, surrender or die." Ryan says while aiming his weapon at the sniper.
 
There was movement alright, but it wasn't the kind of movement Ashley had been waiting for. The hazel eye that peered down the scope widened as all the men popped out at once, and immediately she pulled back from her rifle and tried to make herself as small as possible against the couch while also covering her head. Little curses escaped her lips from the sound of bullets punching into wood, splintering bits and pieces off and onto her form, the sound of the glass shattering, and she flinched hard each time she heard a bullet nick or hit the couch she was on. She was waiting for a moment to pop out and put a round in one of those raider assholes--yet it never came. The gunfire seemed to be constant.

Carefully as she could manage, Ashley nabbed the handle and trigger of her rifle again. She couldn't lean in for a good shot, but, she did lean out enough to snap a quick peek before she blindly fired off some rounds in return. Her rifle kicking hard each time she did without her shoulder to brace it--at the very least she was trying to get some break in the returning shots so she could get a chance to get out of the building. At the moment, it seemed like if she rolled off the couch she'd be a bloody mess on the floor in seconds.

The gunfire made it so that she didn't hear the click in the stairwell as the detonator to one of her mines was pressed. It also made hearing him quickly disarming it, and his footsteps, nearly impossible. Finally,, a break came as she heard a voice shout, except, Ashley quickly realised it wasn't a voice ahead of her, but behind her. "Dammit!" she cried, twisting so that she was on her side on the couch, back resting along the back of it, her one leg awkwardly stretched out and the other bend up with her hee lflat on the top. Perhaps a somewhat suggestive pose in the tight armor she wore, but who knows.

In the motion, she also drew her revolver, holding it with a single hand as she swung it around and leveled it at the man in the doorway. She heard a shout from outside of, "Did you get them!?" which made her snarl. However, despite her surprise, the words had not fallen on deaf ears. He said he was NCR. That was likely the only thing that kept her finger from squeezing off a round of her .44 in the man's general direction.

"Like hell you're NCR," she muttered, her other arm braced up against the back of the couch in order to keep herself supported. Her bag was on the floor about mid-way between the two. Ash blew out a short bit of air to try and knock her raven-coloured bangs out of her face, her medium-length hair a disheveled mess all around her face and the part of the couch her head was on. "NCR don't come around to these parts. Nipton belongs to the Legion. You're Legion. Or some raider trash."

Another call from outside, Ashley winced. 'Fuck. The hell do I do!? He gets his buddies in here, I'm screwed, I need to... eugh... son of a... ' Her nose wrinkled, and she almost cringed at the thought, but she needed to act quick. "Tell them you got me. Tell them I'm dead. Tell them I'm dead and I'll drop it, like you want, instead of pulling the trigger and taking my chances." The last thing she wanted to do was the latter. Even if she got out of that unscathed, it seemed she missed something. The others would be up after her. It'd been pretty damn clear she couldn't handle the whole group. "Wouldn't you rather have me all to yourself?" she added, her tone rather suggestive, while she had to struggle to hold back the disgusted shudder at her own words.

But one asshole? This one asshole? She could handle him, once she got him to send his buddies on their way.
 
Ryan keeps his rifle raised at the woman on the couch, his breath staggering and causing his gun to sway as she draws her revolver and aims it at him, he should've just shot her when he had the chance. This left them in an awkward stand-off. He now of course realized that he was not wearing his standard NCR armor, he removes his hand from the barrel of his gun, lifting his dog tags out of her shirt and showing them off to her. "I'm from the NCR." He says before stuffing them back down his shirt. "I've got an NCR rifle and dog tags, will you believe me now?" He asks, at this point it was fairly obvious that he did not want to kill her, he had probably never even shot at a woman before today.

The man in front of her was shaking like a leaf, despite hours of combat and experience in the field, killing people that he had never met. But something about this girl made him not want to kill her. He had obviously never been so close to his target, or perhaps he had never killed a woman, he had learned manners from his parents despite the wasteland that he had grown up in, the NCR helped keep society sort of intact after all.

"I'm not Legion, and if I was a raider I'd be high off of my ass trying to rape and murder you." He says while carefully starting to move to his right out of the doorway, unsure if she had placed anymore mines. Ryan didn't respond to the shouts from his comrades down on the streets. "The NCR wants to retake Nipton, that's why we're here." He says, keeping his finger on the trigger, but not applying any pressure as he knew that if she shot him, the first thing his hand would do is pull the trigger. "I got him!" He calls out to his squad. "Stay out there, keep me covered!" He calls before making what he considered a terrible decision, he lowers his weapon. "Continue on with the patrol! I'm grabbing supplies, I'll catch up!" Several replies indicated that his squad was moving on without him, they trusted him after all.

"I'm not going to have sex with you, I'm not going to kill you and you're not going to kill me, my squad is down there and they think a Raider has been shooting at them for the past half an hour, if you want a new opportunity to un-fuck yourself, come with us and we can give you a new life at the Dam." He says while looking at her dead in the eye. "I want to give you this chance, I'm willing to die for the Republic, are you willing to die for some stupid presumption?" Ryan asks while throwing his rifle over his back and approaching her, offering a gloved hand for her to shake. "Ditch the rifle, I'll say I found you in here and that the shooter was holding you hostage." Ryan seemed to be a compassionate, merciful person, she had been shooting at him and his team for a long time, infact she had nearly killed him on multiple occasions, but he felt like she deserved a second chance.
 
The dark-haired woman scoffed at the notion. "Yeah, and if I'd have killed you, would that make me NCR too?" Ashley fired back, insinuating the man killed an NCR soldier and took his equipment. In her mind, that seemed far more likely than an actual NCR trooper around these parts, especially wandering about without armor. The dogtags would be easy to take, she'd even heard the NCR paid for returned dogtags, and they usually carried around rifles that weren't rusty pieces of junk. There would even be plenty of reasons to have left the armor behind.

Ashley's finger danced across the trigger of her revolver. She noted the four chambers she could see had fired rounds in them--had she forgotten to reload it? Between noting that, and focusing on the man's face, she didn't quite notice him shaking, which wasn't an issue she was having. She might end up having to double-down on her offer, though what he said after made her quirk a brow.

"Not all bandits are addicts, nor all Legion idiots," she answered initially. She learned that one first-hand. "And four people aren't retaking a whole town," she added a moment later, still skeptical. When he lowered his weapon, she almost pulled the trigger. What stopped her was a combination of not knowing if she even had a bullet to fire, and knowing that his buddies outside would hear it--she was trying to get rid of them, and that would see them come sprinting back, most like.

"I'm not joining the fucking NCR." she answered to his offer, lowering her own weapon hesitantly, and cupping her hand over the front of the chambers as she popped them out so he couldn't see what she confirmed--everything had been fired. He didn't know that, though, so she just pushed it back closed for the time being. "I'm not ditching my rifle, either." She shifted her position, sitting up some, trying to get into a place where she could grab her rifle and use it if need be. It might have been obvious, it might not, she didn't care. Ashley wanted to have a weapon available, not nothing.

"If you're not here for nothing, then why don't you just leave?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes. "You don't want me. You don't want to kill me. And if you are NCR, there's no reason to not just piss off." Ashley had no interest in dying, for anyone, or anything, however, that was exactly what would happen, she's sure, if she accepted his offer. and went ot the Dam. The NCR hadn't taken too kindly to that stunt she pulled, and while she didn't think the NCR as a whole would put her down, the two people she screwed most of all would certainly desire to. She just hoped this idiot didn't know about that 'price' on her head, so to speak.
 
Ryan raises his eyebrows, he had just practically saved her life and now she was insulting him. "Obviously my small team isn't here to retake Nipton, we're a recon force, we couldn't risk anybody seeing an NCR patrol in Nipton, the Legion would've sent reinforcements to wait for us here." He explains. "The NCR will send an invasion force once we return to the Dam, then the whole town will be under our flag again." Ryan explains to her, trying not to lose his cool as she was insinuating a lot.

"I assure you, I am not Legion or a Bandit, I would've killed you by now either way." He says. "I don't want to kill you, but I can't leave you here alone, my team will want proof that the shooter is dead, your rifle will be proof enough." He says, watching her move before lifting his weapon to aim at her head. "You pick up your weapon, I'll blow your fucking hand off, you don't need that to live." Ryan threatens, his finger was off of the trigger but his trained eyes were watching her every movement.

He shakes his head. "I'm not asking you to-" He is interrupted by the sounds of gunfire outside, he lowers his weapon and quickly walks over to the window. A platoon worth of Legionaires was marching through Nipton, his squad had gotten caught by them.. They were either dead or very much on their way out of the town by now. Ryan slowly backs away from the window, shaking his head as he looks over at her. "The Legion is here." He says quietly, biting the inside of his cheek as he was unsure of what he would do.

"You and I are our best chance of survival.. If we get out of this we can go on our separate ways.. Just don't shoot me in the fucking back." He says while walking back outside of the door and rearming her land mine. "Your mine is rearmed, you cover the windows and I'll cover the door." Ryan says to her after having walked back inside of the room, he extends his hand to her again, hoping this time she would just take the offer instead of asking all of these questions, they would only survive if they trusted each other, after all.
 
Ashley scoffed again and rolled her eyes at the explaination. For the moment, it seemed, the lady was not buying it. However, that he wanted to take her rifle made Ashley's eyes narrow, and she shook her head--a low growl coming from her throat as she found his rifle leveled at her head. "You aren't taking my rifle. You don't need proof," she uttered, before the sound of gunfire made her head whip around and left her immediately snatching up her rifle. She also took this moment to sit up, getting those springs out from jabbing into her backside.

Scoffing, she pushed herself to her feet, and slung her rifle over her shoulder. "Legion aren't here for me, NCR," she noted, as she started for the door. "I suggest you lay low and just let them walk on by instead of fending them off. I don't get you types who always want to fight everything you see."
 
Ryan found himself not trusting her in the least bit, feeling like she would shoot him in the back the first chance that she got. He lays low in the opposite corner of the apartment, his rifle resting on his lap with his finger around the trigger, an easy motion would allow him to shoot her if she did something that he didn't like. "It's my duty to fight the Legion." He says to her while resting his head against the wall, watching her to make sure she wouldn't try to kill him.

It was hard to trust anybody these days, the few that were trust-worthy were often trumped by the many who would kill to get to their next meal. He wanted nothing more than to get out there and fight the Legion, but he knew that it was a suicide mission, especially considering that they had already routed or killed his team. There was still hope, however, since there was gunfire going off in the distance, signalling a battle taking place.
 
The words gave Ashley a bit of a twitch. She frowned, turning on her heel back to face him, bangs swaying into her face as she did. "It's your duty to be an idiot, then, I guess," she said disdainfully, "You want to fight them, fine. But don't start shooting until I'm gone. I don't want their attention brought over here." Her words carried little sympathy for the others the man had been with, and it was clear she didn't regard the man from the NCR too highly either.

Ashley stepped over to her bag, and lifted it up, in order to carry it out, but the lack of weight gave her a small reminder if what this whole mess had started with. Food. She had none, and now, getting any was going to be even more difficult of this man's buddies brought a Legion patrol on over. Which left her one option. With a single motion, Ashley pulled her revolver from the holster at her hip, and leveled it at the man huddling in the corner.

"Your bag. Give me it." She didn't know if he had anything she could actually eat in there, it was a gamble. A big gamble especially considering her revolver was empty and just had spent casings in it. "You inconvenienced me, and you owe me for that. I know my way around Nipton, so if I shoot, I'll still get away. You don't. You kill me instead of handing it over, and you're just calling the Legion down on your head."
 
Ryan had been looking out the window, his gun tucked to his chest as he listens for the Legion patrol walking around on the street below them, his head snaps to her when she levels her revolver to him, ordering him to give her his bag. He raises his gun at her right back, using the wall to prop himself up. "You're gonna have to shoot me first." He says "And if you try to run, I'll be sure to kill you so that the Legion won't have to." The weight of the gun in his hands let him know that he was still locked and loaded.

Outside, a member of the Legion patrol blinks as he thinks he hears something, turning his head to a building that had relatively recent bullet holes around one of the top windows. He motions for a couple of his friends to follow him, they walk into the house and start to walk up the stairs to ambush the two in the top room. They begin to approach the room that they can hear words from, their footsteps relatively silent against the wooden floor. There was five of them walking up the stairs to kill the two that they could now clearly hear.

The Mexican standoff persisted, however.. Ryan still had his rifle aimed at her, his bag was secured to his back with a strap at his hips and a strap across his chest, so she would actually have to try to kill him or risk dying in order to get it off of him. (Rolling d10, over 5 = Ryan is able to kill the first Legion coming after them, rolled: 10 + 7 PER). His eyes go wide as out of the corner of his eye he spots a member of the Legion coming towards their room, his rifle swinging as he fires off two shots, both caving a hole through the first Legionnaire's head and going through to kill the second (because of perfect roll :p). The remaining three take cover in the hallway, sending shots into the room while the rest of the Legion forces in Nipton begin to converge on Ashley and Ryan's position.
 
Ashley almost pulled the trigger--almost. What stopped her? The fact that she still hadn't a single round chambered, and it would have shown she had 'nothing' to bargain with, as it were. Scoffing, she was about to answer him in kind when she saw the barrel of his gun swivel and two quick shots fired off. "Fuck!" she cried, quickly diving to the side and out of the doorway, uncertain at first if he was just a bad shot or...

The hail of bullets that came flying inside a moment later answered that question. Fumbling about on all fours, having landed on her pack, there'd be a clear sign her weapon had been empty when she sat up, popped the chamber and dumped out all the spent casings into her bag. Every couple of shots she flinched as she dug a small handful of rounds from her bag, and hastily shoved them into her gun--shaking fingers making her drop one of the bullets in the process. A shot hitting close to the wood near her also made her quickly kick and scramble back further from the door.

"This is all your fault!" she hissed at him, rolling into a crouching position. She scooted over to the door, reached around and fired off a shot before pulling back as several bullets tore the hell out of the doorframe where she had leaned out. Hissing again, she clearly wasn't happy with this situation, and immediately scrambled back and over to the doorway to the other room.

That's when she noticed it--something she'd missed. One of the walls had a hole in it, leading to the adjoining building, which, she was sure, had its own stairwell. For a moment, she considered just bolting for it all on her own. Something told her there was going to be more legion though, and she could use some he--a bullet sponge. Frantically motioning to him with her hand to follow, she called out in a harsh whisper. "Hey! NCR!"

From there, she scrambld into the other room on all fours, haphazardly dragging her bag along with her. She shoved it through the opening hole first, then crawled in after, not bothering to wait to see if he was following, and giving him a view that would likely would have been more appreciated if they werent being shot at.

1d10 (3) + 7 PER = Missed Shot.
1d10 (7) + 7 PER = Notice the opening in the other room.

Chance Roll: 2 [<5/Legion not in the adjoining building. 6> There are.]
​
 
Something inside of him wanted to save Ashley, even though so far she had caused him nothing but harm. He starts firing through the doorway to suppress the enemy, and if he hit one of them then good riddance. He continues firing while she moved, catching her reload her revolver in his peripheral vision. Fucking bitch.. He thinks to himself, she had tried to rob him with an empty gun! He was almost so pissed that he was tempted to turn and shoot her.

A bullet whizzing by his head keeps him from doing so, his skilled hand quickly reloading his rifle before firing a few more shots, intending to miss but to keep the enemy's head down. His head whips around when he hears her call to him and then quickly move into the hole that she had noticed. He quickly shoulders his backpack and lunges through the hole, shoving her with his rifle to get her out of the room while the Legion took up positions inside of the room to try and kill them.

He whips around and sees an enemy trying to fit through the hole, but he was stuck. He tries a running shot to kill him and keep him stuck in the hole, able to hit him a few times and kill him with sloppy accuracy. Once they were out of danger he shoves her against a wall. "You tried to fucking rob me with an empty gun?! Fuck you, this is your fault." He jabs a finger in her face before letting her go. "The moment we're out of this shit I'm getting the hell away from you." He growls while gripping his weapon tightly, motioning for her to get going with him.

They unfortunately still needed one another to survive, but the moment they no longer required each other, Ryan fully planned on leaving or dragging her by the hair to the nearest NCR outpost for justice. "C'mon, through here." He finds a fire escape and quickly makes his way down the ladder, dropping down to a small alleyway and aiming his weapon out towards the street. It seemed that for now, they had escaped. "Please tell me you know Nipton, we need to get the fuck out of here." He says quietly, trying to think how they would escape the Legion for longer than five minutes at this point.

OOC
Random firing hit, 1d10: Rolled:4 + 7 PER, Miss.
1d10: 10 + 7 PER, notices that she reloaded.
1d10: 5 + 7 PER, kills the Legion member in the hole.
1d10: 6 + 4 STR, shoves Ashley against a wall.
 
The shove of the rifle's end, or more like, sharp jab leaves her swatting behind her with a hand and swearing. Even still, she scrambled into the adjoining room, not wanting to get caught fighting with the idiot she was with while on her hands and knees. She was already moving toward the stairs down and out of the building when she heard more shots, and glanced back in time to catch Mr. NCR downing one of the Legion as they tried to follow. Scoffing some as he turned back toward her, she opened her mouth to say something to him only to find herself roughly shoved against the wall.

Grunting, Ashley glares at him while tightening the grip on her revolver. Even still, she can't help but to manage a small smirk. "Blame the idiot who didn't notice, not me." Shrugging her shoulders to the notion of him getting away from her, she moved over to the fire escape, pausing at the top, watching him move down it. It would be soooo easy now, she figured, to get that bag that was likely stuffed full of supplies. However, at the same time, maybe... keeping him around for that rifle was the better play. At the very least, she wouldn't be the one getting shot at all the damn time.

Silently, Ashley made her way down the firescape, and hopped to the ground. She slung her bag over her head, strap across her chest cutting between her breasts, while her rifle was over one of her shoulders. "Yeah, I do. We're on the northeast end. Safest way out... we go northwest. Get behind the old town hall and make for the caves." At least that would be preferrable to her over trying to get out the west road toward the intersection that lead up to that NCR outpost.

Clicking her tongue, she made for the opposite end of the alleyway from the front of the building. Ducking low, peering out into the streets which, behind, were barren for the minute. She stood somewhat sideways, so she could keep Mr. NCR in her peripheral version, still not much buying that story of his.
 
A small growl leaves his throat when she called him an idiot, nothing really pissed him off more than an insult to his intelligence. He was well aware that with her behind him with a now loaded gun, she could easily have just shot him and moved on. "Alright.. Just.. Follow my lead." He says while covering her while she made sure that they were safe. He looks down for a moment to look at his compass before putting it away, now understanding where they needed to go in order to use the escape route that she suggested.

"Trust goes both ways lady, faster we get out of here, faster we can part ways and act like we never even saw one another." He says before standing up, starting to move across the alley to move to the northwest. As they walk up the street, they come upon a body in the road. It was one of his team members, a spear sticking out of his neck. He was still barely alive, clinging to life as he choked in his own blood, the only thing keeping him alive was the very thing killing him; the spear.

Ryan bites the inside of his cheek, reaching down and ripping the spear from the man's throat, casting it aside before reaching down to take his dog tags. "I hope you find a place better than this." He whispers quietly, the man now dead. He rises from his knee on the ground and pockets the dog tags, not looking at Ashley as he starts to walk again. Unfortunately they didn't have enough time to bury the man, he would have to be left in the streets for the mutants to eat, or perhaps the Legion to use as a morale booster. The idea of his teammate being used to fuel the ego of the Caesar made his hands tighten around his rifle. Luckily for them, they didn't encounter any other Legion patrols as they made their way out of Nipton.

He points towards the opening of a cave in front of them, picking up the pace to a jog as they move towards it. He turns the flashlight on his gun to on and sweeps through the small cave, as it was growing dark outside they would need a place to settle down for the night. Finding it luckily clear, Ryan sighs quietly. "We can stay here for the night or keep walking through darkness, your choice." His head moves to look over at her as he offers her the decision.
 
Ashley snorted at the notion she should follow Mr. NCR. If he had to ask if she knew where they were, she would be the better one to lead of the two of them--that thought aside, the fact that it meant he would be shot at first, giving her a better chance, kept her lips sealed and a smile and a nod her only answer. Revolver in hand, Ash peeled out from the alleyway a few seconds after her tempoary partner had gone; she kept several paces between them, preffering he be the one that was shot at first.

When she notices the body stuck with a spear, she grimaced some. Dead bodies were one thing. Corpses that didn't know they were dead yet? Disgusting, and an inconvience. She simply stood aside as the other man removed the spear and took something from the body, kneeling down herself once he turned away to quickly rifle through the man's pockets for anything of use, or note. And, if he had one like Mr. NCR, snagging his bag in the process before she hurried along after.

In no hurry herself once they had left town, Ashley strolls toward the cave opening, one hand over her eyes as she peered up at the sinking sun. Lovely. "Just north of here... " Ashley uttered, turning in the direction she gathered was north based on the sun, and peering over. "There's a cave with Deathclaws. Which means I don't see me sleeping none." The 'with you here,' that she was tempted to add-on to that, she decided to leave out.

"Running into one of therm in the dark, though... " she began as she moved inside the cave, '"... Probably worse than missing a night's sleep." Shrugging off her pack as she got in, she tossed it against the most comfortable looking bit of cave she could see. Which, given that it was all mostly the same, it all looked about as comfortable as a pile of rocks. Pressing a hand over her stomach, she muttered under her breath some before moving to all but collapse next to her bag. 'Well, today was a bust... here's to a better tomorrow... '
 
Ryan had seen her loot his comrade, as much as he hated to disturb the dead, especially a teammate.. She was right, they would need the supplies for the long night ahead. They would have to take watches to ensure the Legion did not find them, or anybody else for that matter. With the realization that they might be stuck together for a little while, he tries not to say anything that might piss her off, they had both had a really long day and at this point he just wanted bygones to be bygones.

They approached the cave and found it empty, a very lucky find considering that there were plenty of mutated animals out in the Mojave that loved to call caves their homes, the majority of them not very friendly towards humans and very much able to destroy a body with one strike. He watches her walk inside and decides to use one of her mines that he had disarmed, setting it at the entrance of the cave before stepping inside and activating it, it would be hard not to step on considering the slim entrance.

"I've only ever seen a deathclaw once." He admits while walking inside and setting his pack down. "I booby trapped the entrance, don't go out during the night without disarming it, and remember to disarm it, it'll be loud enough to wake us if anybody decides to come in." Ryan explains to her while sitting down against his pack, refusing to unpack anything as he assumed she would try to steal it. He keeps his rifle close to his chest, tightly in his hands as he looks over at the entrance.

"We got off on the wrong foot." Ryan says to her quietly. "My name is Ryan, I'm an NCR Ranger with the Third Special Forces Platoon." He explains to her. "At this point I need you to survive as much as you need me, and honestly if we keep going around with our guns pointed in the wrong direction we're both as good as dead." Referring to how they were pretty much pointing their guns at each other the entire time that they were together.
 
A dark look crossed the leather-clad woman's face, and she shifted uneasily, rolling her right shoulder at Ryan's confession of having met a Deathclaw once. "They're more common than they should be around here." Letting her head fall back against the stone wall of the cave, Ashley turned her hazel eyes toward the ceiling, going silent and lost in a memory for several seconds, that continued even after the man's makeup attempt. When she came to, her head slumped down to place her chin to her chest, making her raven-coloured bangs fall down around her face--peering passed them toward Ryan.

"I know how mines work, Mr. NCR, and I'll point my gun where I please." The words themselves were childish, but she didn't have the tone one might normally expect with it--her tone more of a person giving an implicit threat. With her rifle on her side, leaned against the wall, her handgun holstered, and her bag to her opposite side, Ashley wasn't doing anything directly threatening, for the moment. "I prefer Ash, and I'm not attached."

Reaching over, Ash grabbed her pack and pulled it into her lap. A bit of digging around later, she produced a bottle of dirty water, boiled to make safe for drinking, but still a bit irradiated. It left it with a poor taste, something evident when her first sip was joined by her face twisting and contorting as her nose wrinkled. A big gulp after that, and her head fell back against the stone again as she considered where to go next: if Legion were starting to poke around Nipton again, it wasn't a safe place for her, and anywhere with NCR probably wouldn't be either.

Some caps, though, might be nice, maybe it would be worth the risk. "I'm heading to New Vegas," she stated matter-of-factly, then gave a shrug. "Tag along if you want, but if you don't shoot me the next time you aim a gun at me, you won't get a third chance." Red lips twisting into a dark smile to join the joking tone she had with those words, "Since we've got several hours to kill, crack out a deck of cards so I can clean you out. I'm sure you've got some nice things in that bag I'd be happy to have."
 
He bites the inside of his cheek, the whole reintroduction idea didn't seem to be going as well as he thought that it would be, he really did want a clean slate with Ash, not wanting to get shot in the back. "Believe it or not I'm not from around here.. I only know Nipton from maps." Ryan shrugs his shoulders. He looks over at her as she seems to pass out for a moment, so he takes the time to count his ammo and check his pack for supplies, biting the inside of his cheek as he thinks about the situation he was in, with how unpredictable she had proven to be, she could wake up at any moment and pull her revolver on him.

"I wasn't giving you a crash course on mines, I was informing you that I had planted them, so that way you don't die or become horribly mutilated." He says while crossing his arms and looking away from her, she wasn't making this whole thing easy.. Then she introduced herself as Ash, making him look back over at her, his face softening a little now that she had properly introduced herself. "Despite the circumstances, it's nice to meet you Ash.. You saved my ass back there." Ryan says while shifting slightly, moving his pack back against his back so that he could rest against it.

"You don't have to-" She takes a drink of that disgusting, irradiated water and he reaches into his pack, rolling a bottle of purified water over to her. "Don't drink it all at once, it's better than that shit you just ingested." It was his last bottle, but he figured he'd offer it to her as a show of good faith, he just wanted to move on from her hating him and him having to keep an eye on her constantly. She mentioned going to New Vegas and he nodded. "I should be headed that way myself, I can hook up with the embassy once I get there." He says. "I'm not planning on aiming my weapon at you again." He tells her while gently clicking his fingers against said weapon.

Finally she asks him to grab some cards from his pack, making him raise his eyebrows. "I dunno how I feel about gambling for supplies.. But I'll play cards." He offers. "Unless you can find something better to gamble.." He wasn't exactly against gambling, it might be fun to play a game for once. He fishes in his pack for a deck of cards and sets them down in front of him, sliding them over to her with a nod of his head. He wasn't completely against gambling supplies, he just really didn't prefer to, and also didn't see the point considering they would be traveling together for what looked like a few days now, until they reached New Vegas.
 
Ashley certain could believe it--nobody from Nipton would have gone through that valley, and they wouldn't have had as much trouble getting to her in that building. Her eyes locked upon the bottle of purified water as he rolled it over, it stopping when it hit her thigh. Reaching down, she poked it with a finger and rolled it from side to side a moment before giving it a roll back. Not being much a fan of charity, but it confirmed her suspicions. She knew he had some good stuff on him, absolutely knew it. How many more did he have in that bag? What other neat things?

She couldn't remember the last time she didn't eat some kind of irridiated food. Fortunately, she still had some RadAway left. One thing travelers had fairly often, if nothing else, was RadAway. And irradiated food. Blech. The question was, how to convince him to... more willingly part with those items, and his last few words made her smirk.

"I'm fine with the shit I just drank, and I can't say the same. However." Pressing into the ground with her feet, she slid herself up the wall back into a standing position. Taking a step away, unbuckled the belt that both helped hold up her pants, and was the holster for her revolver. Bundling it up, she tossed it on the floor between them. A bit looser now, her pants dipped some, showing bare skin beneath before she sat back down with her legs crossed.

"If you're lucky, maybe you won't have to worry about that. I'll ante that up if you put down some food." Snagging the cards, Ashley proceeded to give them a few riffle shuffles. She'd make sure she won the first hand, at least. If she could swing it. "Know how to play five-card draw?" A question asked as she tossed out five cards face-down between the two of them. "I'll add my top to that pile if that'll help sweeten it for you. Come on, try your luck for at least one round before you turn me down entirely."
 
He eyes her when she received the very rare purified water, his eyebrows raising when she rolled it back over to him. ”Suit yourself, then.” He says before opening the bottle and taking a drink of it, just Incase she thought it was poisoned or something of that sort. He puts the cap back on and slips it back into his pack, he really only had ration packs, his water, and some ammunition inside of it, aside from some small clothing items like a gas mask and a regular mask to help him in dust or radiation storms. His eyes close for a moment as his fingers tap against his weapon, thinking to himself about how he might be able to make things a little more right between them, taking from her would definitely not be the way to do it.

Of course he also had some medicine on him, plenty of stimpaks and RadAway. He wasn’t a fan of the pack of radiation medicine, considering it went in through your arm and forced you to piss out the radiation, all around it wasn’t a fun experience to have. But none of that medicine he wanted to bet away, he would need it to survive and she must’ve known that.

”I figured you’d want something that tasted better and wouldn’t force you to piss out radiation.” His shoulders shrug. ”Make sure to keep your gun loaded, then.” Ryan says, indicating that if her gun went in his direction then all bets were off, he wouldn’t hesitate like he did last time. At this point they didn’t really need each other to live, they could part ways very easily and go on living the lives that they had been beforehand. He eyes her as she throws her revolver and belt down, throwing it between them. ”I don’t want your gun.” He says while furrowing his eyebrows, it was suspicious that she would bet so much on a game of chance.

Ryan nods when she asked if he knew how to play five card draw. ”Yeah, though I prefer Texas Hold’em.” Ryan laughs while rubbing the back of his head, he didn’t enjoy gambling it honestly made him nervous. So he decides to bet in some of his lower quality food first, taking two cans of tuna and placing them in the middle next to her revolver, he had enough ration packs to allow him to survive until New Vegas, these cans were irradiated to shit and were bad for you anyway. He draws his five cards and smiles from ear to ear, being a charismatic person he has an excellent poker face.. because his cards were complete shit.

D10 roll for cards: 3+2 LUCK, D10 roll for poker face: 8+10 CHAR
 
Snorting as he mentioned he didn't want her gun, Ashley gave him a grin. "Welllll it's a good thing you won't be getting it, then, isn't it?" Then, she gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Food is food. Guess you NCR types must have it good to be able to be picky. I didn't. Kind of get used to it after awhile." As she spoke, Ashley drew up her five cards, glancing over on the man as she peered at them. It wasn't a bad hand, just a few cards away from being a great one. However... that look on his face? She didn't like that one bit.

"You're stupid easy to read," she noted. plucking and tossing two of her cards down into what would become the pile. She was hoping she wouldn't have to, but she was gonna need him to screw up. And have his eyes elsewhere. Folding the rest of her cards together, and setting them aside, face-down, Ashley reached down and undid a few more buckles and straps before tugging off some of the leather pads and protectors from her top. And then, well, next came her top, and she tossed it into the pile. "Raise ya."

What she had on could barely be called a bra, it was little more than a strip of fabric across her chest going behind her back, and two shoulder straps. Certainly didn't leave much to the imagination, showing off a fair bit of cleavage, stomach, shoulders, and upperchest. Hopefully, that's where his eyes would be as she reached down to take some cards--trying to sneak two extra into her hand in addition to the two she was taking. Seven cards should get her a decent hand.

"Are you in, or out? And your bet first after that." She placed the cards with her others, keeping her hand overtop of them to help conceal her little trick--all the while leaning back some and pushing her chest out. She wasn't sure how good she could hide it if she'd gotten something she wanted, so best just not to look quite yet. There was also the question of what else he'd even bet... she certainly had nothing else she wanted to, except for a few pieces of clothing.

Just gonna toss this here so I don't have to hunt for it again.
S 3
P 7
E 3
C 3
I 6
A 6
L 5

I'd gone for the one I suggested with everything starting at 4, plus 5 points reserve over rolling. Speaking of rolls.

LCK: 7 [+5] = 12.
AGL: 7 [+6] = 13.
 
Ryan laughs and shakes his head when she called him easy to read. "Maybe that's just what I want you to think." He says with a wink, shaking his head as he looks to her and tries to read her, not really caring what cards she had, he just hoped that she would mess up in some way. "Well, I wouldn't call myself picky.. This stuff on the ground here isn't enough to sustain someone like me who's constantly out in the field working." Ryan explains, not really being much of a nutritionist, but understanding the basic principle behind carbs and calories.

As the game progresses he has to draw cards, biting the inside of his cheek as he notices that his luck was not in his favor, honestly he had had shit luck all of this day, and it didn't seem to be getting any better. Though, the fact that she was starting to strip off her clothes might be considered lucky. Now that she had raised him, he shrugs his shoulders before pulling off his own t-shirt, leaving him shirtless as he tosses it into the gambling pile. He had others, he left his armor and straps next to him, not wanting to bet them as they would be needed in future fights.

His eyes flicked to her chest, she was certainly showing off a lot.. Which was odd, considering she had just been wanting to kill- His eyes flick down to her hand as she grabs two cards from the deck and he just shakes his head. "I don't think I've got time to play with cheaters." He says while reaching forward and collecting the items that he had bet, throwing down his cards on to the deck while placing his items next to him. "I should take your shit too, and cut off your hand.. Luckily for you I'm not a broker in New Vegas." His eyes moved to meet hers as he silently questioned her motivation.

"If you want food I can give it to you, but I'll be needing something in return." He says while slipping his food and shirt into his pack, he preferred to sleep shirtless anyway. Honestly he was kinda glad that he had caught her, all things considered his hand was shit and he was going to lose all of his items if he had continued betting against her, he didn't even need to see her hand to know that it was probably better than his. "You didn't even have to cheat to win, was my poker face really that good?" Ryan asks with a laugh, shaking his head at the idea of his face being so good that it had made her nervous of losing her items.

OOC
PER: 9 [+7]
LCK: 2 [+2]
 
A roll of her eyes answered his comment on 'what I wanted you to think,' and then, again, as he mentioned how the food wasn't enough for someone out working. It wasn't like she wasn't out working too, and Ashley was certain it was harder than he worked given he apparently didn't need to scrounge to survive and the NCR, if he was even with them, seemed to provide all he needed. 'Must be an easy life... Shoot a few Legion here and there, get food and caps, place to sleep.' She raised an eyebrow when he took off his own shirt, not having thought this was gonna turn into a game of strip poker. Well, beyond her stripping. To distract him.

When he noticed her nabbing the extra two cards, her lip curled into a bit of a snarl. "I love to see you try, Mr. NCR," she growled out at the threat. Apparently, he wasn't as dense as she thought, and more perceptive than she had given him crredit for too. If nothing else, that was a note for the future, if she had a future. Right now, she needed that food. There was no way she was making it to Vegas as she was, and banking on finding something along the way was stupid when there was food sitting right in front of her. Maybe she would need that revolver again after all, a thought which crossed her mind at the same time she glanced at the weapon, right before he offered the "trade."

"And just what do you want in return?" she questioned as she fished her own things back over to herself. Him mentioning his hand wasn't that good though, she gave him a skeptical look, only to reach down to the deck and check, frowning deeply at the fact he didn't even have a pair. "Oh, fuck me... "' Reaching over to her pile, she grabbed the three cards she had kept, and tossed them face-up on the ground between them. Three eights. "Yeah, I guess it was, NCR," she muttered under her breath before swatting the deck and scattering the cards about some.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she peered at him, waiting for him to answer her question on what he wanted for the food. Ashley wasn't of the mind to reveal it had been a few days since she ate, god knows what he might ask for then if he had that kind of leverage, besides, she see herself as much of a whiner. "So, what're the terms, then?"
 
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