[M] [IC] Fallout: Ain't That A Kick In The Head?

[Holocene]

This is not an open RP, but thanks for your interest

October 11th, 2281 11PM

"...And that's all I have for you. This is Mr. New Vegas, wishing you ladylike luck tonight." The tune of "Johnny Guitar" started to play, the songs sweet, sad melody floating throughout the small encampment.

Joseph sat next to a dying, crackling campfire, in front of him was a wooden board with cards strewn out across it. A few others sat around the board as well, an intense poker game in progress. Close to 500 NCR dollars were in the middle, waiting to be won.

Joseph stood out from among the others, who were wearing body armor or more comfortable trail clothing. Joseph was wearing a full, tailored white suit with black stripes, as well as custom white shows with a black outline. "Alright Joe, you gonna call?" one of the caravan guards said to Joseph. He put his hand through his well styled, slick, black hair, before throwing down another 20$ NCR bill. "Yea, I'll call."

While this game raged on, one guard patrolled the outskirts of the camp, which was set up against some rocks in the southern Utah desert, 500 feet form the road they were travelling on.

All was quiet, except for suddenly, the three Brahmin, ugly, mutated, two headed cows, who had been carrying the caravans supplies, started to stir. They were tied to a post a little ways off from where the tents and campfire were set up, and their moos reached the campfire, mixing in with the sound of the radio.

Joseph looked over at the cows, his light blue eyes scanning for trouble. His handsome face briefly betrayed a sense of wariness. His attention then turned towards the watchman, who gave a thumbs up to him. Everything was quiet.

[UserError404]

Nikola sat by the fire, attempting to read the faces of the other players. He didn't find much value in the NCR currency they were gambling with, but he did enjoy the game. He hears Joe say "Yea, I'll call." and thinks for a moment, examining his own hand. "Alright, I think I'll call." Nikola said as he examined the reactions of his competition.

Not long after, the Brahmin were startled by something. Nikola's own companion, Niels the Gecko, also seemed to be alert to something. Perhaps it was the stirring of the Brahmin, or something else lurking in the darkness. He reached over, patted Niels on the head, and gave the Gecko some of his leftover food. Nikola then turned to Joe and said "The wasteland got you on edge, Joe? That's good. There aren't a lot of things out here that are your friend. This money, however, is about to be my friend. And, if not the money, then certainly this bottle of whiskey." He reaches for the bottle of whiskey on the ground next to him and pulls it closer. Despite his light-hearted attitude towards the disturbance, Nikola was well aware of the dangers of the wasteland, and made sure to keep an ear and an eye open for any trouble that might be lurking.

[abbiejlee95]

Dani lay staring at the sky a good distance away from the rest of the group. She turned her head towards the brahmin as they started to stir and sighed. "What was the boss thinking? He knows hiring me out to such a rough and tumble group of men is only gonna get me in trouble. I hate men... and women... but especially men. It's only a matter of time before one or more of them gets socked in the face." The raven perched on her knee cocked his head as he listened to her whispered complaint. She gently tapped him on the beak and smirked as she sat up and scanned the group, knocking the ever patient bird off of her.

Most of the group seemed like the typical mercenary type. It was odd that the man who had requested her help was dressed like he was about to hit the town, but she had seen stranger. As that thought crossed her mind she noticed the man's nerves. This brought her attention to all of the animals in the group. What was making them all so uncomfortable?

[LupusSilvae]

The members of the caravan were not the only ones to notice their animals' restlessness. As it happened, they had chosen to make camp near where another wastelander had made their home. The firelight and distant echo of the radio were more than enough to give away their position, and that was just fine for Stephen. It made them easy to avoid, though it also complicated his evening hunting trip. Nevertheless, he stuck to the shadows and gave the caravan a wide berth as he made his way northwest to the den he called home.

Trailing behind him was a nightstalker, ears perked and tail rattling gently as she trotted to keep up. It was this sound that Stephen decided to attribute to the nearby Brahmin's discomfort. A nearby predator would not be welcome company to the cattle, after all. "Rhea, hup," he hissed. He picked up his pace, hoping to make it back to to the nightstalker den before anyone caught on that he was there. Rhea matched the change with ease, almost as eager as Stephen to leave the caravan behind.

[Holocene]

"The only thing that has me on edge is half of most of you assholes's money is in the pot right now. What are we going to gamble with the rest of the trip?" Joe said.

One of the other mercenaries playing said, "God damnit, there's no way I'm winning this one." He then threw down his cards.

Joe chuckled as the mercenary withdrew. He was no longer on edge, but he looked back towards the sentry just to see if everything was still calm. The sentry was on his knees, a long pole sticking out from his abdomen. Joe stared for a brief second, trying to register what he was seeing, before letting out a loud, simple, "Shit."

Suddenly, a loud war cry emerged form what seemed all sides of the camp. Illuminated only by the flames of the campfire, tribal warriors flooded into the camp, shouting and hollering, waving their weapons in the air. They were barely clothed, and their bodies were painted with war paints and dirt. Most had crude spears or clubs, a few had firearms which they wildly fired, untrained in their use.

The card players quickly lept to their feet, grabbing their weapons and started shooting at the raiders. Joe fell back behind a rock, and pulled a small .32 revolver from inside his jacket. He watched as the mercenaries and tribals battled it out, aiming his pistol from atop the rock, his hand shaking.

One of the mercenaries, using a 9mm Submachine gun, gunned down a raider as they ran up with a club. The mercenary turned to fire at another raider when Joe saw a large, muscular tribal walk up, holding a large fireax in his hands. This raider, aside form being larger than the others, also had a facemask carved from wood on his head, with an evil, menacing design and horns sticking from atop it.

The raider swung the ax into the mercenary's neck before they were able to fire, blood pouring form the wound. The raider dislodged the ax, and the mercenary's body fell to the ground. He then turned his head to look directly at Joe from where he was sticking up behind the rock.

The hulking warrior started walking towards him, while everyone else was distracted by the chaos. Joe fired a shot from his revolver, the gun kicking hard and the shot flying harmlessly into the background. Joe then fired another, and another, his ears ringing and his heart beating, but each shot flew wildly past the warrior.

[UserError404]

"Shit." Joe exclaimed, as the sound of gunfire and war cries quickly filled the camp. Nikola, fell to the ground, grabbed his bottle of whiskey, and crawled over to the nearest rock. After taking a moment to collect himself, he took a large swig of whiskey and sat the bottle to the side. He pulled out his laser pistol, steadied his hand, and began to fire at the tribals.

Popping in and out of cover, Nikola managed to get several good shots off before a spear came flying at him. It stratched his shoulder, leaving a tear in his labcoat but otherwise left him unharmed. The spear went on to land by the fire, which brought his attention to Joe. Nikola witnessed the axe wielding raider begin to make his way towards the wildly firing Joe. He aimed his gun at the raider and fired, but nothing game out. Looking at his gun, his energy cell was depleted and the raider was getting dangerously close to Joe. Nikola grabbed his half empty bottle of whiskey, gave it a kiss, and whispered "Goodnight sweet prince."

He sent the bottle flying across the camp and dove to the ground. Shortly after, the bottle landed on the slowly dying fire and erupted into flames. Nikola looked back at what he had done and saw the raider on his knees, and his back scorched. He hoped this was enough to give Joe a moment collect himself and steady his aim. Seeing the opportunity, he stood back up behind his cover, and began to reload. Nikola saw his Gecko, Niels, jump onto an unsuspecting raider and begin to tear into the man's exposed back before being thrown to the ground. With his weapon fully loaded, he ran to the side of his companion, fired two shots, and the raider fell to the ground, dead. Nikola took a moment to look around and assess the situation, seeing if anymore of his comrades were about to meet an untimely end.

[abbiejlee95]

Dani jumped to her feet as the camp erupted in chaos. She let out a shrill whistle and her Raven whisked past her ear and helped distract a few of the closest enemies with a flurry of talons and wings. She drew out her twin .45's and begin firing on the tribals. She glimpsed Joe out of the corner of her eye and her years as a bodyguard took control. She rolled under the legs of a big warrior, tripping him into another, and sprinted towards Joe.

[LupusSilvae]

The shouting and gunfire that emanated from the camp was more than enough to catch Stephen's attention. He slowed his pace as he watched the ensuing fight, cringing in spite of himself as some of the caravan's members fell. For a few seconds, he weighed the risks of getting involved and helping to fight off the raiding tribe. On one hand, it was the perfect distraction to get back home unnoticed. Even as anti-social as he was, however, his conscience would not let him walk away easily.

It was the approach of a tribe member that made his decision for him, having been sneaking through the shadows in an attempt to come up behind Nicola. There was not much time to intervene before he would be run through by a spear. With nothing more than a defeated sigh beforehand, Stephen gave a shrill whistle and pointed towards the offending tribal. The signal was all Rhea needed, taking off like a shot through the darkness. Before her victim had any chance to react, she had leaped up and clamped her jaws tightly around his throat. The unexpected weight and crushed windpipe dragged the tribe member to the ground, where he was promptly finished off by a blast to the face from Stephen's sawed-off shotgun. He did not bother to address any of the company he was presently defending, merely directing Rhea to a new mark while he reloaded his shotgun.

[Holocene]

Joe watched as flame engulfed the back of the tribal leader. The raider let out out a scream of pain, but then grunted and returned to his feet. Joe was about to fire another shot when Dani appeared at his side. He was glad to have some support.

Joe's attention returned to the leader, who let out a shout, and raised his hand in the air. As the remainder of the fire burned out, the leader began to back into the darkness. Joe fired two more shots after him, but he did not hear the warrior fall.

Joe noticed the battle grow quiet. As quickly as it had begun, it was over. The raiders slipped away into the darkness, carrying what wounded and dead they could.

Joe turned to Dani, and said, "Thanks for coming for me." He looked around in the darkness, hoping they were not the only ones alive.

Ain't That a Kick in the Head started playing on the radio, now the only sound on the battlefield. The bodies of the dead and scattered about, the Brahmin gone, most of the supplies gone. Joe saw Dani next to him, and Nikola a short distance away. Joe hoped there were others, hiding elsewhere in the darkness, but in fact they three were all that was left.

Chapter 1: Ain't That A Kick In The Head?


Joe suddenly turned his gun towards the outline of a fourth figure, "Who's that?" he called out, hoping it was one of the mercenaries.

[UserError404]

As the dust settled, Nikola stepped over the bodies of his fellow caravan members and made his way back to his seat. He reached into his bag to make sure everything was still there. With a sigh of relief, he turned to Joe and said "Well, all things considered, I think that went well. Oh, and by the way, Joe, you owe me a bottle of whiskey."

Despite the battlefield growing quiet, Niels seemed to be disturbed by something else in the darkness. Slowly reaching into his bag, Nikola drew his Plasma Rifle and aimed into the darkness. Using his V.A.T.S he could see that there was a fourth person in this camp. Addressing this mysterious figure, Nikola began to say "Hey there. I don't know who you are, and frankly I don't care. It's been kind of a long day so for both of our sake's, I hope you and your companion aren't trouble."