30 Ch. 30 I Beg Your Pardon?

Colton is having a great dream. He's back in the bunker with his parents and he's managed to get his dad a cybernetic arm. And he had just cured his mom of whatever was plaguing her. They were all happy and Colton even gets surprised to find that he has a sibling.

Colton was holding his baby sibling above his head down in the bunker when it suddenly threw up on him. All over his face was just covered.

And that's when he woke up.

Colton opened his eyes to the view of Raksha, Lola, Duke, and Joe standing over him. He brings his left hand to his face and wipes a thick layer of sliver off. "I don't know if I prefer this over the baby throw up"

"That must have been one hell of a dream"

Colton looks to his side and sees Lacey sitting on the bunk next to him. "Lacey?"

"Good morning sleeping beauty, didn't expect to see you back here so soon. Words already reached here about what you did at Primm. So what are you doing back here?" Lacey asks as she leans forward.

Raksha licks Colton's cheek quickly and looks expectantly at him.

Colton pats his side. "Off. All of you off" He runs his hands over his face and gets more dog slobber off his face as he sits up. "I'm needing a pardon for a Powder Ganger to become the new sheriff of Primm"

"Why the fuck would you want a Powder Ganger running the law of Primm? Did Cass agree to this?" Lacey can barely believe what Colton said.

He reaches into his pack and grabs a rag to wipe his face. "She reluctantly did. And I already made sure this guy checked out. Only reason this guy was in the Correctional Facility was because he took his previous sheriff job too seriously and closed a few cases with his own hands without due process. A bit heavy handed but it is what it is. Better than them being taxed to hell by the NCR for just existing"

"Shit Colton. But I guess it's better than what I initially expected" Lacey leans back and puts her hands behind her on the bed.

"I wouldn't have let an actual Powder Ganger become sheriff. This guy just sat back when the prison break happened and he just kinda waited until something happened. And then I happened" Colton nudges Coco off his right leg.

All the dogs were on the ground now. They were nudging eachother and just looking around the room. Some people have Colton some odd looks but either went to sleep or ignored him after a minute. He made sure to keep the talk of Powder Gangers quiet so that nobody but Lacey could hear.

"Well if you're looking for a pardon you should check in with Major Knight. He deals with paperwork and is high enough up the chain to actually do something" Lacey informs. She looks at the many dogs now on the ground. "And are we going to keep pretending that you don't just have surprisingly intelligent dogs now?"

"That's honestly what I've been doing since I got them yesterday" Colton puts his feet on the ground. Raksha goes to his side and puts his head on Colton's thigh and Colton scratches his head. "I'm not gonna question it too much"

"Alright, how did you come across them?" Lacey asks as she lets Coco sniff her hand before petting her.

Colton whispers. "I was at the NCRCF trying to find the potential sheriff when I came across these guys outside the fence. I saved them from a swarm of Bark Scorpions and they just decided to follow me"

"Well ain't that convenient" She uses both hands and rubs Coco's cheeks as the dogs enjoys the attention.

"Yep. So you takin a break from the bar?" Colton asks.

Lacey looks up from the silly dog that had her tongue out and enjoying the petting. "It's not even 7. I don't even think Cass would drink this early unless she had a good reason to"

Colton wasn't sure what time he got to the Outpost. But he was on limited hours of sleep. "Fair enough. Mind staying here with the dogs while I go talk with Major Knight?"

"As long as they aren't gonna start freaking out as soon as you leave I don't mind. What are their names?" Lacey looks at the 8 dogs.

"They should be fine. And I don't plan on taking too long" Colton stands up and stretches. He points at the dogs as he says their name. "This big boy here is the leader, he's Raksha. Next is the second big boy, Zeus. We have Duke, Joe, Charlie, and Abe. Next we have the girls Lola and Coco"

"Those are some unique names you chose. unless they had names already?" Lacey continues petting Coco.

"The names took all my brain power to come up with" Colton admits. He looks at his dogs. "Stay here with Lacey. I'll be back soon"

The dogs don't respond but just look at Colton with some of them having their tongues hang from their mouths.

Colton leaves, the dogs and Lacey watch him leave.

Lacey turns to the dogs. "You guys weren't supposed to copy me"

——————

Colton walks out of the barracks and stretches again. Very few NCR soldiers are moving about, but there are still a few. He cleans his face with some water and goes to the Outpost's Headquarters.

He opens the doors and sees Major Knight at the reception desk writing some papers. "Mornin Major"

"What is it?" He responds agitatedly as he puts his pen down and looks up. "Oh, it's you Colton. Sorry, just been busy lately. What are you doing back here?"

Colton walks up to the reception counter. "It's about Primm"

"Primm?" Knight repeats with surprise in his voice. "Hayes' unit is stationed up there, were having problems with some of the NCRCF convicts. What can I help you with?"

Colton smirks. "I know you know Primm has seen better days"

Knight nods. "It has. It was a promising trade town….before the escape at the Correctional Facility. Lost a good bit of money at the

Vikki and Vance"

Colton nods. "Well I've managed to track down a new sheriff for the town. And I managed to clear out the escaped convicts in the town" He brags.

"Really? I haven't heard that yet then. Been totally swamped. Your work might be somewhere in here" Knight puts his hand down on a thick stack of papers. "Can't wait to read the report. But I guess hearing it from you would be better. Wanna talk about it over a drink later?"

Colton clicks his tongue. "Tch. That's the thing. Im unfortunately not gonna be here for long. And the reason I'm here is about the new sheriff too. I can give you a brief description though"

Knight let's his shoulders drop a bit. "The short version then"

Colton nods. "Right. So me and Cass cleared out the Bison Steve Hotel where the convicts were hiding in. We cleared them out and freed the town's Deputy. Well he doesn't want to be sheriff so I offered to find them a new one"

Knight smiles. "That's kind of you. A shame you'll have to search hard for one that's actually decent"

"That's the thing" Colton puts his hands on the counter and leans forward. "I found one. He checks out and meets all the requirements. And he's a decent guy. But he's a Powder Ganger. And so I need a pardon so he can actually become sheriff"

Knights face immediately gets serious. "Like one of the escaped convicts from the NCRCF Powder Gangers?"

"Is there a different kind?" Colton genuinely asks.

"Haaaah" Knight sighs. "One of the Powder Gangers" He says in disbelief before changing to anger. "They've been nothing but trouble for us…..why would we want one of them anywhere in an official capacity? You've gotta explain a bit more Colton"

"And I will" Colton takes his hands off the counter and puts them on his hips. "He didn't try to escape through all the chaos. And he hasn't attacked anybody since. He's just stayed inside and had been waiting for somebody to drive the Piwder Gangers back into Prison…. Or out? Anyway, I'm trying to say that this guy isn't trying to go against the NCR. AND he was a sheriff before he was locked up. Only reason he was in there was because he took his job a little too seriously and killed a person before the law could process the guy. He just takes the law very seriously. And…." Colton thinks for a second. "….His time was almost up anyway. He isn't tied to the Powder Gangers whatsoever. Perfect guy for the job, if anything he's a little strict"

"Hmm" Knight annoyedly looks into Colton's eyes as he considers this. He closes his eyes. "All right. If his sentence was closing up I can see about getting him pardoned"

Colton pumps his fist into the air but quickly puts his hand back on his hip as Knight opens his eyes.

Knight crosses his arms over his chest. "Primm is important to our trade up from California, so having someone there who owes us a favor... that couldn't hurt. And I'll expect a drink from you when we both get time off"

Colton smiles widely and holds his hand out to shake. "I'll pay for the first two then"

Knight shakes Colton's hand. "Don't forget it then. And come back in 30 minutes or so. What's the guy's name?"

"His name is Meyer. And I'll see you in half an hour Major Knight" Colton playfully salutes with two fingers and then leaves the HQ and goes back to the barracks.

——————

"Hey Lacey" Colton greets the tired looking woman.

"Hi Colton. Your dogs missed you" Lacey says as the dogs are all laying on Colton's bunk.

"I can see that" Colton says as he sits down beside Lacey.

"Did you get what you wanted? That was pretty fast" She asks.

Colton leans forward and rests his arms on his legs. "Yep. Nice and easy. The oardon will be ready in about half an hour courtesy of Major Knight"

"Guess having friends helps speed the process up huh? How many caps?" Lacey quietly asks.

Colton shakes his head. "No caps…. Well, technically. I owe him two rounds of drinks when we get some time off"

Lacey raises her left eyebrow. "Didn't know you two were that close. He always seemed like a stick in the mud to me"

Colton shrugs. "Not super close friends. But friends nonetheless. And he's with the NCR, pretty sure it come late with the job"

Lacey covers her mouth to stifle her laugh. "I guess your right" She lowers her hand and looks at Colton. "So you leaving right after? Or you gonna stick around a little? I can make it worth your time" She suggestively says.

Colton's mind freezes and stutters a bit. But then he remembers the women he's had to put out of their misery.

Lacey notices the change in his expression, but Colton quickly changes back.

"Sorry Lacey, in a bit of a time crunch. And I'm also doing an undercover ops with the Powder Gangers. I've gotten the trust of their leader Eddie somewhat. I gotta report back to him before he gets suspicious. Don't wanna get blown up because I took too long getting back to him" He says suggesting he is t a minute-man.

"Well, we've got half an hour. How about a drink, looked like you needed one" Lacey says as she stands up.

Colton watches her walk past him. "Thought you said people don't drink this early?"

Lacey looks back over her shoulder. "Unless they have a reason to drink. And I'd say you probably have a few"

Colton frowns. "Yeah, I guess I do…"

——————

Colton leaves his dogs on the bed and goes to the bar and catches Lacey up on what he's done. It isn't much and he leaves out the more gruesome details.

He goes and collects the pardon for Meyers from Major Knight. They talk for a minute before Colton leaves and Knight gets back to his other paperwork.

Colton gets his things and his dogs and says goodbye to Lacey before going back to Primm.

Nothing happened along the way except for Colton feeding some Geckos to his dogs after he skins them. Duke apparently likes their eggs, the other dogs don't particularly fancy them though.

A few hours later and he makes it back to the deserted town. Meyer is behind the Casino near the still burning barrels.

Colton waves to Meyers. "I got you that pardon finally"

Meyers stands up and smiles. "Great job. I'll get started right away and might even invite some of my boys into town to help me out"

Colton gives him a weird look.

"Not anybody related to the Gangers you…." Meyers rubs his forehead. "….. I mean like, people from before I was incarcerated. People who take the law seriously and are from the West"

Colton raises both his eyebrows. "Ohhhhh. Phew, you had me going there for a second"

Meyers smiles. "Wasn't my intention, but if it keeps you on your toes…" He shrugs.

"Anyway, I'm gonna get some of my friends and we can let the people in the Casino know there is a new sheriff in town" Colton begins walking towards the bridge.

Meyers sits back down on the bench. "You know where I'll be"

——————

Colton walks towards the NCR base.

"STOP!!!"

Colton freezes and puts his hands up. "Me and my dogs didn't do anything to nobody yet"

A soldier comes around from a pile of sandbag on the other side of the bridge. "What? J…There's mines here!"

Colton looks down and realizes that there indeed were some mines a few feet away and his dogs were growling. "Oh, so now you guys can detect mines too?" He says to his dogs. Then he looks back up at the NCR soldier. "Thank you! But why do we still have mines here? Aren't the convicts dead and thus there is no reason for mines?"

"I don't make the orders I just follow them. But my guess is that since the Correctional Facility is so close the higher ups want us sitting in Primm until they are gone. Or they're too lazy" The soldier expresses his feelings, pretty bold since most people only talk bad behind closed doors.

Colton backs away. "Alright, I'll be going down and around. Thanks again"

The soldier waves. "Saving lives is why I became a soldier"

Colton walks around and down under the bridge and enters the NCR camp the long way. He goes down the street of the collapsed or nearly collapsed buildings and makes it to his friends tent. He knocks shakes the flaps of the entrance. "It's me Colton, can I come in or did you girls decide to have all the fun while I was gone" He jokes.

The tent opens and Colton can see Lauren asleep and Chloe getting up. Cass is standing in her jeans with her pink and white plaid shirt slightly unbuttoned and not tucked in. Her jacket and her hat are on her cot along with her other things and an empty whiskey bottle. The fixer is opened and the packaging empty and tossed on the floor. "You missed it I'm afraid"

"Really? Damn" Colton snaps his fingers. "Was hoping I can get a front row view, guess I'm just not 'Lucky' enough for that"

"Ha-Ha, ok Mr. King" Chloe groggily mocks. She is in a similar state to Cass but she is wearing a tshirt and jeans.

Cass raises an eyebrow. "Colton King? Little pretentious don't you think?"

Colton smiles. "Full name is Colton Lucky King. I'm 18, single, technically unemployed, but I have wicked aim and some very valuable skills such as some training medicine, science, repair, lockpicking, and blowing things the fuck up. And I'm pretty decent with guns"

Cass rolls her eyes. "Any relations to the Kings?"

Colton shrugs. "Not really related to anyone. My mama and papa just slapped me with it after they slapped my ass when I was born. Or that's how I think that went. Can't really remember that far back"

Cass shakes her head and the necklace on her neck moves. Its a diamond-shaped pendant that has a rose in the center. "Why did I even bother asking. You are completely clueless when it comes to the Mojave…"

"No!" Colton shakes his finger. "I'm not completely clueless. I can kill the bad things pretty well here"

"And that's basically it" Cass finishes. She holds out her hand mockingly. "The names Rose of Sharon Cassidy. But I go by Cass, people used to call me Whiskey Rose. But a few punches and people stopped calling me that, to my face at least"

Colton takes a peak at her necklace. "That makes much more sense now"

"Hey, eyes are up here bucko" Cass threatens.

Colton looks up at her face. "I was looking at your necklace. But I guess the view around it wasn't anything to complain about either"

Cass holds the necklace. "My father only left 2 things for me. My name, and this pendant"

"It's a great pendant" Colton comments.

"Yeah. So, are we gonna talk about the dogs?" Cass points behind Colton.

"I'm the…" He cups his mouth and whispers. "….Dog Whisperer now"

Cass rubs her face with her right hand. "It's a bit early to try and understand exactly what that means"

Colton points at his dogs. "I saved them outside the Correctional Facility from some Bark Scorpions. Now I'm their owner. They are weirdly smart" Be then introduces Chloe and Cass to the dogs, Lauren wakes up half-way through and Colton says hello and restarts the introductions.

"And boy do I have a surprise for you Cass" Colton smiles.

Cass puts her hands on her hips. "And that would be?"

"I've successfully infiltrated the Powder Gangers and plan to get rid of them very soon. Wanna tag along for some sweet revenge?" Colton asks.

Cass' face gets serious. "Are you serious?"

Colton also gets serious. "I wouldn't joke about this with you. I won't force you to do this. It's gonna be dangerous. Ver dangerous. There's a fuck ton of those dickbags in the Correctional Facility. But I think the NCR should have something planned. I just have to convince someone to spill the beans and I'll help wipe hem out. I took out their West camp yesterday for a reason that is justifiable. So it would probably be a good idea to do this soon. So what do you say?"

Cass scowls. "I'd say let me grab my shotgun but I think I might want something with a little more range"

Colton smiles. "I think we can work something out with the NCR. Can you girls look after the pack here? I gotta say hello to Hayes again"

Chloe is the one to respond. "I love dogs, we can watch them"

Cass goes back to her cot. "Sure" She says in an uncaring mood.

Lauren looks a bit uncomfortable. "I'm…. more of a cat person"

"Same" Colton gives a thumbs up. "But these guys won't leave me alone and they're pretty useful. I'll be back in a minute" He turns to his dogs. "Stay here, I'll be back soon. Say hello to your new friends"

Colton leaves the tent and goes towards Hayes' tent with the metal door. He gets near it and….

"Oh! Oh! Ahh! Mmmm!"

Colton's face immediately blushes. "Fuckin knew she was getting that promotion or something the 'hard' way"

Colton immediately turns around. He sees a table of plates and some pots and pans. He grabs a pot and chucks it at the door. Not hard, just enough to make a lot of noise.

"I'm cumm-"

*Bam* *Metal hitting metal sound*

"Eeeeeeeehhhh!"

Colton leans against a collapsed building and watches as the soldiers that were oblivious to the copulation now focus on himself and the tent of the Lieutenant.

The man swings the door open a few minutes later. The soldiers went back to their day, only a handful cared enough to see why Colton had just thrown a pot at the Lieutenant's door.

"Who-!" Hayes looks around and then sees Colton leaning against a wall with a not so happy face. "Was that you?" He asks in a not so nice tone.

Colton walks towards Hayes. "Yes, why don't we take this talk into your tent?" Colton leans in and whispers. "Or is she still undressed"

Hayes flinches. "Come in…"

Colton walks past Hayes and reluctantly enters the tent. He'd rather not be breathing the same air they were just funking up with their business.

"What do you want Colton?" Hayes asks as he sits down.

Colton looks at the same female soldier from the last time he was here. He sits down opposite of Hayes. "For her to fucking learn how a clipboard works"

She nearly jumps out of her untied boots. She turns the clipboard right side up.

"You can leave" Hayes tells the female soldier.

"Yes sir" She embarrassedly says with a completely pink and red face as she walks out.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything Lieutenant. But I wasn't expecting for you to be breaking so many NCR laws behind closed doors" Colton says nonchalantly.

Hayes sits up straight. "You have no idea what NCR law even is"

"Do you really wanna bet? What did you promise her? Caps? Promotion? Keep her away from the frontline and safe? All for what? A piece of ass? But that's not why I'm here" Colton leans back in his chair.

Hayes narrows his eyes at Colton. "Then why?"

Colton shrugs. "Because while you were busy being a minute man in here I was out there and managed to get into the NCRCF and became a little trusted by Eddie"

Hayes looks Colton up and down. "Eddie as in leader of the Powder Gangers?"

"No, Eddie as in yo mama" Colton leans forward. "Of course I meant the leader of the Powder Gangers!"

"So what of it?" Hayes asks.

"I want in with whatever plan the NCR has for wiping out the Powder Gangers" Colton demands and puts a finger down on the table.

"We don't have a plan. We don-" Hayes was trying to deny.

"Bullshit" Colton leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. "You guys aren't that dumb to leave them there. It makes you guys look more incompetent. So what's the plan?"

Hayes turns red. "You aren't even a soldier! And if you were I would have you-"

Colton stand up and leans over the table and looks down on the Lieutenant. "I would tell my buddies over at the Mojave Outpost about what you are doing here. I've helped them out greatly and they'd listen to me. Might not fully believe me but you would have some of the higher ups breathing down your neck for a long while. Then every time you tap any ass they will know. Right?"

A bead of sweat makes its way down his face. "Y-you have no idea what they would do. And you aren't even an NCR citizen…"

"Look. I'm not trying to harm you. I'm just trying to wipe out the scum that is the Powder Gangers. This isn't me trying to bully you into divulging the NCR's skeletons in their closets. I just put a Crimson Caravan woman out of her misery after the Powder Gangers killed her guards, beat her into submission, and then gang raped her" Colton leans in front of Hayes' face. "So I'm just asking you. When is the NCR going to wipe out the Powder Gangers and to let me be involved"

Hayes' eyes went wide when he heard that Colton had to kill a woman to put her out of her misery. They weren't even aware there was a caravan going anywhere near the prison or the camps around it. He closes his eyes and nods. "Fine. You've proven your point. And you're capable enough to lend a hand"

Colton stands up. "I also want a friend of mine to help out. She also has a bone to pick with the Powder Gangers"

Hayes looks up at Colton. "As long as she doesn't get in the way it'll be fine. We might even be able to use the extra set of hands…" Hayes takes a deep breath. "All right. Fine, if you want to put yourself and your friend in harms way. I'll mark the staging area on your map. Talk to Sergeant Lee"

"When?" Colton asks.

"Today" Hayes says. "So if you want to be involved I'd get a move on"

Colton moves towards the door. "Thank you Lieutenant. That wasn't so hard was it? I'll keep your little romp a secret. And I'd suggest you find a better place than a tent. It's a miracle nobody else was forced to hear that"

Colton walks out of the tent and looks around. Nobody was looking his way except the female soldier. He waves at her and goes on his way to his friend's tent.

The walk back he remembers hearing the moans. Poor girl was forced to fake it. Well, she chose whatever he offered over her own body so Colton tried his best to forget it. But it just melded in and the scene from yesterday came back to his mind. The Crimson Caravan woman. Her broken nose, other broken bones, and just the scene in general.

Colton gets to the tent and can hear his dogs inside. He shakes his head before opening the tent. "Cass, get ready" He looks inside and sees the women petting the dogs. "You dogs staying or are you coming too?"

Raksha turns to him and barks.

"Still don't know what that means" He turns to Cass. "Get ready. The Gangers won't see tomorrow"