New Vegas: Blood Ties

Tom had raised a valid point. True it may have been Yasmin's caps, but it did seem a bit hinky that they need to move with such speed that they were willing to engage a small swarm of cazadors. By the look of the insects, he could tell they were bigger than most he'd seen. They were obviously older.

"Yes, Blue Eyes. Why the rush? Do you expect someone else seizing the prize before us?" Carib looked at the belt, it was at less than half. "If so... it would have been wise to let us be aware of the time sensitive nature."
 
Yasmin pushed her hair back, her heart rate slowing down again now the cazadors were dead. After the first one, the rest she had taken down took a fair few more shots. Damn they got big out here.

She looked at Tom and raised her brows while putting her sniper back on. “Well for one, thanks for the help,” She said sarcastically. “And two, there is a pretty big group of us up here, and they were down there. We weren’t in any imminent danger, it’s not like there were a handful of us – though only a handful of us actually bothered to kill them.” She nodded to Mark and Carib, thanking them, then indicated to the long stretch of mountain they were on.

(this is gonna be hard to describe, but essentially it’s a pretty tall, really long hill and the deep crevasse running all the way straight through the middle, where the cazadors were. It’s not extremely tall, about a 5 story building, (it was on a gentle incline, not a hard hike), but it is really wide)

“And would you really rather having to walk all the way off this fucking thing, then however further, where there could be more of them, so we could get passed the entrance without them seeing us and swarming without us having any advantage?” She crossed her arms. “I’m hot and I’m tired, and if we move fast enough we can be there by nightfall. I went with the faster, not that dangerous option since I thought we’d all be attacking. And now that they are dead, we can either climb straight down, or walk around to where it’s shorter down and get down there, but any way, it’s easier. Plus,” She said, taking out a small jar. “Cazador venom is not only useful, it sells really high, so excuse me.”
 
"Good killi'n Carib!" Mark high fives. Yeah! that was good!

Mark was in a better mood, danger was exiting, he wasn't afraid at all during that little combat, not even when the cazador was right on top of him, about to sting him with deadly poison.

The feeling was... different, one of exaltation, of ecstasy, kind like sex even. He liked that, maybe because it made him not feel guilty for surviving... because he didn't survived, not yet anyway, there were plenty more ocations where he could die.

It was clear in his head now, after this little adventure, and if he survived trough it, he would go back to his unit, and go after the Legion. Not out of hatred though, but because he wanted to be there, because he would get the feeling again.

Now he could see that he didn't cared about the money, he wouldn't have done something that crazy for no amount of money, he wasn't interested in that. He didn't realized it at the time, but he was just looking for a good excuse to give to himself so he could go out on one more adventure with his friend.

All the way there he herd the others about making plans for the future, his only plan was to get back in the fight... it was the only thing in his mind now.
 
Carib smiled inspite of himself. Mark had always a way of raising his mood. He was however, still curious to the real motives behind Yasmin's reasoning. However, she was paying them and he was coming along for the Brahmin ride, he just hoped that this ride wasn't one to the slaughter house.

Reaching down on one of the cazadors he removed his tracker knife and began making incisions along the purplish black caripace of the creature. Pealing the past the shell, he pushed aside the greenish flesh underneath. Cazadors weren't pretty tasty, they were actually quite bitter and depending how you killed it, you could have ended up bleeding venom into the meat and spoiling it. He found the large fist side palish gland. Making a few surgical like cuts, he removed it and placed it in a small jar he kept inside his assault pack.

"This will do nicely."
 
David walks over to Yasmin. He says,"What the fuck is so important, that you have to risk somebody getting killed? I mean did you even hear yourself? You said that going around was unacceptable. Not that we might be in even greater danger, that there was no way you would accept taking longer than needed to get to the bunker. You haven't told us whats in there, so you either don't know or don't want to tell us. I'm going with the latter. So whats the truth, whats the real reason for you preferring to take on some of the deadliest creatures in the wasteland to going around. Because it sure doesn't seem like its pre-war tech your going after. Is it a person? Or maybe a vault full of gold? Could it be you just want to be famous? I don't give a shit, but if this is what you are putting us through, then we have a right to know what we might die for. I have seen too many friends die for a lie, and I am not going to see anybody else die for that reason."

David waits for an answer.
 
Tom overheard David, this was why Tom liked him, he reminded his of his old friend, John Richardson. Tom and John were tighter than thermal underwear, John could always be the talker, persuading his way round problems, Tom was the heavy hitter, they worked well together. Unfortunately John had left the Capital Wasteland after years of wandering round Albion with Tom and Rachael, off to Mexico, 'Where a greater life lies for me' were John's words, Tom remembered them words like the back of his hand, Tom hadn't seen John for five years now, for all Tom knew, John could be dead, drifting, or the king of Timbuktu, but John followed his own path, and Tom likewise.

Tom got back to current affairs, still heated he dived head on into the discussion, "For your knowledge, I couldn't get my shot in because of Carib and Mark's excellent teamwork", Tom nodded at the two, knowing they had worked together for years, "I don't want to risk my arse like that for nothing, I don't care if it's pre-war 'goods' or the golden fucking city, if that's the way you run things I might as well go shoot myself in the head, or even better kill everyone here, but of course, I won't let the bodies drop in front of your mother fucking grand prize!".

Tom hated this sort of thing, Tom had a set plan for life, and if the plan was distorted his whole life may as well go to the gutter.

"If you want to hire us for something, tell us your true intentions if your going to drag us through hell and back, I want to at least get there to see our target, not a fucking graveyard!"
 
(Ok, just a reminder she had scaled down the wall so I guess you guys are down in the ravine too)

Yasmin turned to Tom. “Because you didn’t have time to aim while we were all setting up for our shots? Don’t get pissed at me for your crap gunmanship Tom.” She turned back to David.

“And didn’t I explain this? Lots of us all the way up there,” she pointed up to where they had been. “Versus them down here, with an advantage. Honestly, what would you prefer? A 50 second battle, or a 3 hour walk out of the way?” She folded her arms in front of her chest. “I did mention that there’d be the usual dangers of the desert to put up with, I didn’t realise you’d get your nightwear in a bunch when I made a decision to fight through them. If you weren’t up for action, maybe you shouldn’t have come.” She held up her arm showing the pipboy. “Now we’re almost there. I want to get there as soon as possible because, evidently, this is cazador territory, and I don’t fancy another night out here. The faster we are getting there, the quicker we’re out of harm.”

She softened the hard tone in her voice as much as she could and dropped her hands. “Do you see? Killing them might have put up at risk, but in the long run it’s the better choice if we can get out of harm’s way faster. I did what I think to be the best choice for our success.”

She paused and kept her ears pricked, just in case there were any more of the swarm around. The last thing she needed was their fighting attracting more of them while they were on ground level with no fast escape.
 
Tom was still fired, but he started to realise Yasmin was right, he breathed in, "Your right, we better get moving, I don't like the idea of sleeping in the cazadors backyard either".

It was apparent the danger that Yasmin mentioned in Vegas was more than Tom expected, he thought to himself as he looked over the hills to the east, 'Watch yer' self Tom, if you hurt yourself you'll never see Rachael or John again, take your time, don't put yourself in to much danger if you don't have to'.
 
David replies,"Oh its the cazadors is it? Then why the fuck where you so eager to get there pretty much all the time we've been out here. For the past day or two you've been insisting that we get there as quickly as possible. So far we've encountered all sorts of shit, but until now theres been no reason to hurry up. If we are going to die, and I accept this might happen, I want to know what I am dying for. Its not pre war tech, if you wanted that you would go the big Empty. If you just tell us what you are looking for, no details, just what, I can understand why you might put us at risk. But your not telling us, and so that ignorance could end up ruining the mission. I mean, we might destroy a machine you need, thinking we could sell the parts. I just want to know who or what is so important to you."
David raises his carbine, looking out for cazadors.
 
"Or are we even looking for tech?" Carib voiced, "Tech is maybe a carrot. Perhaps the prize is a person? I guess we'll find out when we get there."
 
Yasmin gritted her teeth. She missed Raiders. They didn’t ask questions, they just followed the leader, killing and mangling everything in their path. She probably should have gotten a stupider bunch, but if she was walking into a massive den of enemies, or things that needed to be broken into, she needed more than just blind fire power.

She looked at David, making sure to keep her voice soft and the tension out of her body. Aggressiveness wouldn’t get them moving faster. She’d need a better approach than fighting. An appeal instead.

“Look, I’ve shared as much about this base with you as I know. Honestly, I’m slightly worried it might be all for nothing because I have no way of knowing for sure what’s in there. It’s a gamble, one that I want done as fast as possible because I don’t like wasting time. That’s why I’ve been pushing us so fast. I didn’t want to mention that it might be a goose chase cause I’d rather you all be disappointed at the end then stressing during. Now that I know that there are cazadores out here, I want to go even faster so we don’t end up bug meat. Isn’t that, plus the incentive of possibly getting a haul big enough to have you set for years enough to find this place? Cause that’s good enough for me. I’m tired of wandering, I want to rest and have a home, like the rest of you. If this pays off, we can all have it. But I won’t feel right until I get there and know for sure it’s real. So can we please keep moving? I’m starting to get paranoid down here.”

It had more truth in it than most of what she’d told them, so she knew it’d ring true. Even if David wasn’t happy with it, at least he wouldn’t think she was lying. But the standing around while seconds slipped away and the threat of cazadores was getting her jumpy. She didn’t want to have to stand and talk any longer or it’d be hard to keep herself calm and polite. She handled stress better with guns than with words.
 
Carib was standing outside the formation, he took a quick glance and Yasmin and David. It was like watching a high stakes game at the Tops. All chips in the pot and who was really bluffing who. David had a secret to be sure; And Yasmin, well there was more to this tech than meets the eye. He didn't doubt the job was legit, he just wondered what were the underlying motives. There was a look in her eyes. There was a lot more. He doubted she'd tell him.

He supposed that when they got there, well all would be revealed in good time. Carib looked back at Mark. Whatever surprise it was, it had better not bring harm to Mark, because if there was treachery, Carib would claim a few scalps.
 
"Well, I did told everyone there would be plenty of dangers heading this way. That's why we brought the tools for the job, and the skill... and something tells me this won't be the most dangerous situation we will come across." Mark had been trough plenty of dangerous situations as to even think there was a concept such as "over-prepared".

Jasmine's explanation was solid, it was why everyone signed up for this mission, it was the same excuse he gave to himself... but then again, he had realized he was just lying to himself, and that was just an excuse, not the real motive. If you can't even trust yourself, how can you even begin to trust others.

Mark wasn't sure if David was so worried about the group's safety, maybe all this was just acting, aimed at discovering Jasmine's true goals for his own personal purposes. It was obvious that this mission was not only about the money, and he suspected that Jasmine wasn't the only one hiding secrets. He didn't cared that Jasmine may be lying, he suspected her lying since day one, he wasn't going to start asking questions now.

But of course, all these were just theories in his head, nothing was certain, that was the only certain thing. So, just play along and be prepared for when things go to shit. It's part of the risk when dealing with shady people, probably even riskier than the cazador's.

"At least the Legion seems to completely ignore this area... actually, there is no reason for them to be here at all. But this is not exactly the most explored part of the Mojave... maybe that's why I believe the prize will be big... and so will the dangers."

Mark looks at his pip boy and sighs, he then gets ready for more marching.
 
David stares at Yasmin, looking for a signal that she was lying, and then said,"Fine. Just remember, you are the group leader. You have a responsibility.I'll take point for now."
David walks on ahead, looking out for any creatures.
 
She could have danced with relief. All the hairs on her arms and down her back stopped prickling and she could relax. She hated feeling panicked. Stuck in a ditch filled with dead cazadores arguing with someone to get them moving again out of fore mentioned ditch was a reason to panic.

Yasmin pulled out her assault rifle and started walking to the opening out of the ravine that was closest to them. She kept darting her eyes around the crevasses in the rock and up above them for any sign of a cazadore. She knew they were probably all dead, but paranoia still gnawed at her, even if she wasn’t as on edge because they were moving.

~Great, something else to be eating at me until we get there.~

Yas glanced at her pipboy again and looked at the short distance. It gave her a jolt of joy and dread. What exactly were they going to find there? There’d either be a lot of explaining to do, some grovelling to do, or a lot of shooting. None of that sounded fun to her. She just hoped he was there. He’d make everything easier.

They got out of the ravine and turned according to her pipboy. “We should be there before sun down.” She said loud enough for them all to hear, but quiet enough to hopefully not attract attention.
 
Tom looked at David, "What you reckon we'll actually find there, i'm doubtful of her actual 'story'", Tom put emphasis on the word 'story' so David knew Tom's point.
 
David whispers,"Well, from my time in the enclave, I can tell that there isn't any military bunker in this area, so there probably won't be any pre war tech that hasn't been found already. It may be a private bunker, made by some Vegas businessmen, explaining why I wouldn't know about it. There may be no bunker at all, and Yasmin was lied to. We'll have to wait and see."
David looks around, seeing no cazadors.
 
Tom glanced back at David, "I'll be honest, I fear the worst about the bunker", Tom lowered his voice further, "It's not that, that worries me, when I left the legion after winning the arena challenges, they saw me as a deserter, they sent one of their best centurions after me, I fear that he will pick up my trail".

Tom looked at the dust his feet were kicking up as he walked along, "It's especially hard as this centurion was my trainer while I was in the arena, he was a great help in Denver, I don't think I would be able to kill him, although I think he could, he was as loyal as a dog to the kaiser".
 
Carib walked, the LMG cradled across his chest, the ammo bag of 120 rounds secured beneath and the additional ammo packed. They all kept a steady pace and the Ex-Ranger kept his thoughts on the goal. Sometimes he wondered if he had been loosing his mind a piece at a time.

There were moments he could swear he hear Katja's voice or saw her green eyes. Other moments were to back when he had faced the Legate Joshua Graham. Now that was a name that had both the hate and admiration of the Ranger Corps. Graham had been a powerful and brutal figure, a unique being who just couldn't die. S2 had said it was superstition, but Carib had known better. Hadn't Carib shot the man twice in the heart and once in the head for good measure? He remembered, Graham laughing and twisting the gun out of Carib's hands. He remembered that smile. They had engaged in combat and had both fallen into the Colorado River.

Carib had floated to the sure, close to a Ranger outpost. It had been luck. Katja had found him before he had become lunch for some lake lurks. He remembered she reaching for him and helping him up. He remembered that smile and that calm.

No one had seen Graham. The Command had written his disappearance off as drowning. Two weeks later, Joshua Graham in full armor of the Legate had marshaled the attack on Hoover Dam and Boulder City.


He remembered the thugs he tore apart in the alleys of Freeside. He was becoming a very different person. Looking at his hands, he could swear the gloves and uniform was torn up and blood was everywhere.

He closed his eyes for a second and cleared his mind. No dwelling of the past. There was a job to be done and the team.... and Yasmin would need him.
 
Mark also began to wander in his thoughs. This was probably not such a good idea while traveling trough dangerous territory, but for Mark, it was difficult to control daydreaming, or flashbacks in this case.

His memories this time went back to private Julia Jenkins, or JJ as she was known. She was really scared, yet she wouldn't let this be visible to others, but Mark had a sixth sense for perceiving the moral of the people under his command. So he sat next to her, and talked, soon he made her comfortable enough for her to reveal her feelings of fear, and he used his sharp tongue and his tact to calm her down. After Mark was done with her she looked relieved, like a huge weight was taken away from her, and this as well brought happiness in Mark's hearth. Today he managed to at least make a single person feel one bit better, that meant a lot to him. Mark was really fond of JJ. What Mark didn't know at the time however, was that the next day she would be dead, as would the rest of his squad.
 
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